FRENCH TOURISTS
Sta,—While appreciating the finer points of Mr. Harold Nicolson's Marginal Comment on the subject of the interchange of French and British travellers (apropos " The English in Paris " exhibition), it might be well to point out that his contention " . .. whereas thousands of British visitors have for centuries flocked to Paris for purposes of pleasure or instruction, very few Frenchmen have ever come to Great Britain . . ." is somewhat misleading. During this year, in fact, the British Travel Association (Tourist Division of the British Tourist and Holidays Board) estimates that, of 500,000 visitors from overseas, 80,000 will be from France—a number second only to the 100,000 Americans expected and much higher than that for any other nationality, the Dutch coming third with 65,000, and Belgians next with 50,000. And none, surely, of these very welcome visitors from France will come within the category of those " . . escaping from Royal displeasure, revolutionary violence or the marked attentions of the police," which Mr. Nicolson seems to think are the only factors calculated to persuade a Frenchman to cross the Channel.
One appreciates Mr. Nicolson's gentle satire, but he may be assured that Britain has indeed many attractions for the visitors from overseas. He does Frenchmen, particularly, an injustice, when he describes them as insular to such a degree. The wonder of it is, in view of stringent currency restrictions, that so many French visitors are to be found in
Britain at any time of the year.—Yours, &c., LYSTER ROBINSON.
Chief Press Officer.
The Travel Association, Queen's House, 64-65 St. James's Street, S.W.r.
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