Tourists show defiance in wake of French terrorist attacks

British tourists heading to France are showing ‘defiance’ in the wake of terrorist attacks in and around Paris.

Short break operators report that rather than cancelling, some travellers believe travelling to the French capital will now be safer, due to increased security.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a warning for tourists to be vigilant on Friday following the terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and incidents in and around Paris.

It said: "Due to ongoing threats to France by Islamist groups, and recent French military intervention against ISIL, the French government has warned the public to be especially vigilant and has reinforced its security measures."

Ted Wake, joint MD and director of sales & marketing at Kirker Holidays said all clients booked to travel to Paris over the weekend had gone ahead with their short breaks and that there have been no cancellations for future bookings.

He said: "The conclusion is that the security position in Paris is little different to that in London and a number of other capital cities.  Some clients consider that the current heightened alert makes it a little safer to travel now than a week ago.

"Overall, you sense that discerning travellers are defiant and well informed when it comes to their opinions on the impact of recent terrorist activity .

"The Kirker team keeps a close eye on FCO advice."

French President Francois Hollande is due to chair a crisis meeting with cabinet ministers on national security after last week’s attacks.

It follows more than 1.5m people marching in Paris yesterday in a show of unity, including about 40 world leaders linking arms.

Police in Paris shot dead three suspected terrorists on Friday bringing to an end three days of high drama in the French capital, which started on Wednesday with the massacre of 12 people at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Two suspects were shot dead at a building close to the city’s main airport Charles de Gaulle, where they had taken a hostage, and one was killed at a kosher supermarket in the east of Paris, where there were several other people being held hostage.

Four hostages are understood to have died at the supermarket.

According to the live Twitter feed of French newspaper Le Monde, two of the airport’s runways had been closed as police helicopters gathered in the area.

Despite many media reports to the contrary, the airport had reassured passengers, via Twitter, that flights remained operating, but confirmed that flight paths have been changed.

It said flights were diverted to the southern part of the airport to avoid the area of intense police activity.

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