Tourism & Terror: Eyewitness report from Nice, two eTN readers

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It’s a state of emergency in France after another attack on the travel and tourism industry has unfolded.

It’s a state of emergency in France after another attack on the travel and tourism industry has unfolded. This one also in France where the French president just called it a terror attack with 80 and more expected to be dead. Among the dead many tourists including children.

It was a beautiful Thursday holiday evening last night in Nice. Tourists from all around the globe enjoyed a special night of fireworks and events in the Code d’Azur town of Nice in Southern France. It’s the main vacation season for Nice and streets are busy, people are happy, and tourists are having a great time. It was Bastille Day, the national holiday in France. Visitors joined with French citizens in unity and celebration.

Among them, were two eTN news readers who both live in Nice. They don’t want to be identified, so we are calling them by an assumed name: Paul and Peter.

Here is what they told eTN:

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“People had a great time. We were drinking and enjoyed a huge outside party. Cafes and restaurant along our beautiful oceanfront roads were packed and people let loose.

“I was about 100 meters from my apartment. Since I had to work early Serge and I started heading home before midnight when I heard loud bangs sounding like shots. I heard glass smashing and people started running everywhere.

“Within seconds, Serge and I were overtaken by hundreds of people running and screaming. Obviously they were escaping from something terrible.

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“We now started running and made it to our apartment building with strangers pushing hard to also enter for safety.

“We still had no idea what happened, but we were frightened and glad to be home and safe. One of my good friends called. She was sitting in a cafe overlooking the beach road and yelled: Dead and bloody people everywhere! A truck is killing everyone and smashing everything in its path.

“I heard sirens, lots of them. I don’t have a TV, and I only learned more when I talked to my friend in Honolulu, Hawaii, who works for eTurboNews. He was one of the editors on duty and called me knowing I was in Nice.

“I lived in Nice already for several years. I love Nice – and this is coming to me as a shock. The more I find out about this terror attack, the more I am in disbelief. I work in one of the local hotels, and I am worried to go to my job today.

“This was a clear attack on our vital travel and tourism industry.”

Tonight Nice is like a war zone.

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French President Hollande said: “Once again we have seen extreme violence, and it’s obvious we must do everything to fight this terrorism.”

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French authorities are confirming 80 dead and more than 100 injured with numbers counting.



About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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