Bad weather keeps tourists away from France-study

PARIS, Aug 19 (Reuters) Rain and unseasonably cool weather kept tourists away from France in July and August, and hotel, camping and holiday home rentals fell 3 percent from 2006 levels, according to a study released today.

France is the world's top tourist destination, attracting around 79 million visitors a year, and tourism accounts for about seven per cent of gross domestic product.

Tourist visits plunged 5 per cent in July and although there was a slight improvement in August that was not enough to make up for the damage done to the summer season as a whole.

''It will not be enough to close the gap from the beginning of the summer,'' said Didier Arino, director of Protourisme, the agency which carried out the study that was printed in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

The Alps and the Pyrenees suffered the most, both mountain regions posting a 6 per cent drop in tourist visits compared with the previous year -- when summer tourism was also poor.

Last winter was unusually warm and many mountain resorts did not have enough snow for skiing. The wet, cool summer has now put visitors off activities like rafting and hiking.

Beach resorts in western France also saw falls in tourist visits.

Restaurants and cafes in Brittany saw an average drop in turnover of 15 per cent from 2006, according to the hotel, cafe and restaurant union.

''The drop is 25-30 per cent for establishments with a terrace or on the coast while those in towns did slightly better,'' union official Jean-Marc Le Carrour told the Journal du Dimanche.

The only areas reporting an increase in tourist visits were the sunny southern coastal regions of the Cote d'Azur and the Languedoc, and Paris.

REUTERS RKM KN1722