France is witnessing a gloomy tourist season after suffering the worst forest fires for 20 years, on top of the knock –on effects of the Iraq war.

Figures just released for July show that visitor numbers are down by around 20 per cent from 2002. The most notable change is the lack of American visitors – affected by the Franco-US rift on Iraq and the falling dollar.

Other internal factors have put pressure on tourism. In July, a strike over welfare payments by performers and technicians resulted in the cancellation of two major arts festivals in Avignon and Aix-en-Provence.

Forest fires along the Mediterranean coast and pollution fears on the Atlantic coast over last year’s wreck of the oil tanker Prestige have also contributed to the downfall in visitors.

While anti-French feeling over the country’s refusal to publicly endorse the war on Iraq is a major factor in the fall in American visitors, the sharp rise in the value of the euro has meant American buying power in Europe has been cut by as much as a third and is a powerful deterrent, according to government officials. Details: www.tourisme.gouv.fr