France unrest sparks travel jitters for Southeast Asian tourists

Fatimah Zainal had already paid for her flights and accommodation when videos of the unrest in France made her jittery about the Paris leg of her European holiday.

“The videos definitely made me panic,” said Fatimah, who plans to visit the French capital solo from October 31 to November 3 after travelling through Belgium.

The press officer for an international organisation said the Malaysian government’s travel advisory gave her second thoughts, and changing her flight would cost up to an additional 1,200 ringgit (US$293).

Friends living in Paris encouraged her not to cancel, but she has told her travel agency she may need to change her plans if conditions do not improve.

Nationwide protests against rising living costs last week descended into chaos and riots in major French cities, prompting multiple Asian governments to issue safety warnings.

The travel alerts come as inbound tourism from Southeast Asia to France is experiencing an uneven recovery.

Tracked air-passenger numbers from six countries in the region totalled 196,091 in 2025, almost unchanged from the previous year’s 196,824, and 22 per cent below 2019, data from France’s national tourism development agency, Atout France, showed.

Malaysia recorded the strongest growth among the six markets, rising 55.4 per cent year on year from 14,938 to 23,219 last year. Vietnam increased 15 per cent to 27,403, while the Philippines rose 6.4 per cent to 20,351.

In terms of volume, Singapore remained the largest market with 63,726 passengers, down 14.9 per cent from 74,859 in 2024. Indonesia and Thailand also saw smaller declines at 3.5 and 4.7 per cent, respectively.

While the Asia market outside China accounts for a small share of tourism arrivals to the European nation, French tourism authorities are seeking to cultivate this long-haul segment for its high-end travel potential.

China’s embassy and consulates in France, meanwhile, renewed their warning ahead of Saturday’s demonstrations, urging Chinese visitors to stay away from protest areas, heed police instructions and leave promptly if trouble arises.

Malaysia’s foreign ministry last week said citizens should consider postponing non-essential trips until conditions improved, although travel to France remained unrestricted.

Indonesia, Thailand and Japan have also cautioned their citizens against unnecessary travel to France and other affected European countries, resulting in some itinerary changes.

Singapore’s Dynasty Travel told broadcaster CNA that fewer than 10 France trips had been amended over concerns about the protests, with no outright cancellations. The agency added it was prepared to reschedule evening activities, change transport arrangements or move travellers away from affected areas.

Another Singaporean agency, Chan Brothers Travel, also said it had no protest-related cancellations, noting that its November and December tour groups were proceeding as planned, subject to adjustments if conditions changed.

In Vietnam, some prospective customers were delaying booking European tours while searching for more information, travel agency Hoang Viet Travel’s deputy director Luu Thi Thu told local media. She said October tours were proceeding and a France-Switzerland-Italy group arrived home safely on Monday.

Atout France told This Week in Asia that travel figures from non-China Asia segments were indicators rather than comprehensive visitor counts.

The numbers also did not factor land route entries or flight bookings, which, according to travel analytics firm ForwardKeys, constituted a single trip between France and the visitor’s country of origin.

“Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand appear to have reached their post-pandemic peak in 2023, driven by pent-up travel demand following the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, passenger numbers seem to have begun to stabilise,” Atout France said.

“Malaysia and the Philippines, by contrast, have continued to show steady growth, which may be partly attributed to the introduction of new direct flights operated by Malaysia Airlines and Air France.”

Atout France said Southeast Asian visitors were significant to the country’s upscale hospitality sector as they mostly favour hotels rated four stars and above.

Figures on how much Southeast Asian travellers spend in France were not immediately available. However, Japanese visitors spent €618 million (US$691.8 million) in 2024 and their Chinese counterparts about €3.46 billion (US$3.87 billion) in 2019.

France recorded €77.5 billion in international tourism receipts in 2025.

French reassurances

A spokesman for the French embassy in Malaysia said there was no reason for travellers to reconsider their trips as the situation was under control.

The representative said measures, including curfews and additional security forces, were deployed to protect people and businesses.

The embassy said the government “will not allow violence and looting to take hold. Restoring order is the top priority, without infringing on civil liberties”.

The spokesman added that “a very clear distinction must be made between rioters and protesters”, calling the latter’s demands and concerns “legitimate”.

But for Malaysian national Fatimah, the decision will come closer to departure.

“I will play it by ear and see nearer the date whether the situation is OK or otherwise,” she said.

“It still looks unstable, but it’s OK lah I will keep monitoring.”