I very recently returned from a trip to France which, I believe, demonstrated the amazing resilience of both travelers and the travel industry in the face of what unfortunately appears to be the continuing horror of terrorism.
The trip - to attend the Rendez-vous en France - came on the heels of the latest terrorist attacks on the Brussels airport and Maalbeek metro station which left 32 dead and more than 300 injured.
The Rendez-vous en France, held each year in various parts of the country, this year was held in Montpellier in the Languedoc, Roussillon, Midi Pyrenees region of southern France. As in past years, this trade fair brings together tour operators with French companies representing accommodations, attractions, transportation companies, tourism marketing organizations and others.
This year's event, the eleventh and as always organized by Atout France, attracted close to 900 tour operators from 73 countries and 740 French tourism companies. Of those 900 tour operators, 40 were Japanese tour ops. The Japanese, says Atout France, are a customer base particularly hard hit by November's terror attacks right in Paris.
The Rendez-vous was also attended by some 40 journalists from around the world who listened to French tourism officials - including the head of the Paris CVB, the head of the Paris-Ile-de-France Regional Tourism Board and the Ambassador in charge of culture for the Foreign Affairs and International Development Secretary - talk about the importance of tourism to the country as well as all of the new developments in Paris and beyond, designed to offer travelers fresh new reasons to visit the city and country.
Were the terrorist attacks mentioned?
Of course they were. But what the officials had to say wasn't nearly as important as the fact of the event, the hundreds of attendees on hand, and their unflagging interest in carrying on the business of tourism and travel.
And judging from the crowds at Charles de Gaulle Airport, the public too is carrying on. Terminals were crowded with travelers, planes appeared to be packed - I know mine was, going and returning - and people forged ahead with their travel plans whether that involved business trips or leisure trips or trips to visit family and friends.
Travelers appeared to be calm and collected and those I spoke with had the same response to the continuing terrorist threats: They are needless and horrific tragedies that, nonetheless, cannot - and will not - stop us from going on with our lives and our travels.
Of course, there are people - who can say exactly how many? - who have canceled or postponed trips to Europe or elsewhere in response to recent events. Everyone must judge for themselves what they want to do and when they want to do it.
But the public at large - and certainly those in the travel industry - will continue to travel when they need to and when they want to. And those that have put off their travel plans will, we've seen, likely resume them later on.
It all adds up to the best answer we can give the terrorists and, ultimately, the most decisive defeat of their terrible actions.
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