Terrorist attacks, strikes and floods saw Britons and other foreign tourists shun Paris, with officials calling for a “relief plan” after the region suffered €750 million (£644 million) in lost revenue in the first half of the year.

France is the world’s most-visited country by international travellers and tourism makes up 7% of its economy, but whilst almost 85 million foreigners flocked there last year, tourists have stayed away since 130 people were killed in Paris in November and 85 people were massacred in Nice in July.

Paris hotels’ occupancy rates fell to 32% in the second half of July, from 77% last year.

Figures show Britons are picking Spain over France and other terrorism-struck countries such as Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt this summer. More than 2 million Brits visited Spain last month, up 17.5% on last year.

By contrast, there was a 23% fall in the number of flights booked to France by Britons during the last week of July, and Disneyland Paris saw an 11% fall in visitor numbers between April and June.

"It's time to realise that the tourism sector is going through an industrial disaster," said Frederic Valletoux, head of tourism in the Paris region, which employs some 500,000 people.

"This is no longer the time for communication campaigns but to set up a relief plan."

Airlines easyJet, IAG-owned British Airways and Ryanair have all reported a downturn in flight bookings to France.