Notre Dame Cathedral in the centre of Paris is known as the most popular tourist site in France. Every day sees it overrun with people speaking all the languages under the sun. It attracts more than 13 million visitors a year, and this year seems no different.

But although Paris this summer appeared to be as busy as ever, the financial crisis has certainly had an impact on tourism in France. Laurent Pagny owns a souvenir shop close to Notre Dame and says business is down 20 or 30 percent.

"We see almost as many people as before," he says. "The only trouble is that there are less people than usual in the shops, especially in the high season. It's more difficult."

To offset this, Pagny says he has been stocking up on small-ticket items like key chains, shot glasses and small souvenirs. He says people are still tempted to make the kind of impulse buys he specializes in, as long as the price is low.

Feeling the pinch

According to the Paris Tourism Agency, hotel stays in the capital were down eight percent in the first six months of the year and as much as eleven percent in the case of international visitors.

Moreover, many of the tourists have shortened their trips. Engineer Cejee Patel, who is traveling with a party of nine family members, is one of them.

"We are from New Jersey in the United States," he says. "We're on a very short trip. This is just three days because of economics. It was originally planned for 15 days, but we cut it down to one and a half day in Disneyland Paris and one day in Paris, just some quick sightseeing."

Patel says he managed to pay for the hotel stay for nine with Airmiles. But he says that with the US dollar so low, he finds Paris very pricey.

"It's very, very expensive," he complains. "It's not affordable. If you are drinking a water, it's five euros!"

Still popular

Even so, France is expected to remain the most visited country in the world this year. Some 78 million visitors come to France every year - more than the entire French population.

Tourism represents about six percent of gross domestic product, while in Paris, roughly 30 percent of all jobs are related to tourism in some way. That means that small variations in annual travel are keenly felt.

But the French tourism industry is pretty robust. Nicolas Boutaud works for Atout France, the government agency in charge of promoting tourism, and he predicts that the country will probably withstand the current slump.

"There has been a strong impact on business tourism, particularly with the United States," he explains. "This summer we expect a loss of about 20 percent of foreign tourists. But at the same time, we've realized that French people tend to stay in France more than they used to. We think the number of tourists in France will be less than last year, but it won't be a very bad year."

Less tourism, less revenue

But the tourism sector isn't just about the number of people visiting. It's also about how much they spend when they're there, which is why a downturn in corporate travel - even if it only accounts for 10 percent of visitors to France - is bad news for the economy.

"Business travelers spend two to three times what the leisure traveler spends per day, because they are going to the best hotels and spending more per head. says Boutaud. "So obviously, if business tourism is down, that means less revenue."

And though French tourists have largely made up for the drop in international visitors, they tend to spend less than the ones that come from far away. Take Sylvie Pain, who is visiting from Brittany with her husband and daughter for four days.

"We are staying at the IBIS hotel, which is very welcoming and doesn't cost very much," she says. "If you reserve a long time in advance you can get some very good deals. A big breakfast, and then we're off for the day. We eat sandwiches or other types of inexpensive food on the go, wherever we are."

So even though it's as hard to find a seat in the city's many pavement cafés as ever, the visitors aren't as carefree as they might have been other years. They're counting their euros - and maybe deciding against ordering both an appetizer and dessert.

Report: Genevieve Oger, Paris
Editor: Sam Edmonds (jp)