Christmas sparkle in Paris’ shopping quarter dimmed by strikes

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Christmas lights are sparkling in Paris’s famed shopping quarter, but the cash registers are not ringing loud.

A general strike, which dragged on for a 16th day has taken a toll on hotels, restaurants and stores in the Paris region, with their holiday clientele dissuaded by transport disruption.

For some shoppers, it made for a more peaceful if not less festive shopping trip. For others, it meant postponing the shopping until train schedules permitted.

Since the start of the strike on Dec. 5, revenue loss in Paris stands at some 30% year-on-year for hotels, 40% pct for cafes and bars and 50% for restaurants, a spokesman for the GNI independent hotels and restaurants federation said.

Astra Hotel in the Opera district, about a block away from the iconic Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores, has seen a fall of 19 percent in reservations since the start of the month.