Shopper traffic in Paris remained sluggish last month, indicating that the French economy is failing to ignite, but Spain was moving ahead.
Paris shopper numbers in November fell by 1.2 per cent year on year, according to traffic researcher SPSL. Director of knowledge management Tim Denison said Paris was suffering more than provincial cities because of the fall in US tourist numbers.
George Wallace, chief executive of retail consultancy Management Horizons Europe agreed. He said: 'It's economic and confidence-related, but it's also because the big cities are still suffering from a fall in visitor numbers, particularly from the US.' He added that anecdotal evidence suggested that overall French retail sales were still flat and consumers lacked the confidence to plunge into shopping sprees.
Meanwhile, big Spanish cities edged forward last month - visitor numbers in Barcelona and Madrid were up by 3.8 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively.
Denison said Spain was the 'antithesis of France' and was experiencing a boom in tourist numbers.
Madrid is experiencing an uplifting 'Beckham effect', he said, but believed the figures were broadly typical of the Spanish retail economy as a whole.
M+M Planet Retail consultant Bryan Roberts said: 'The Spanish retail sector has been doing well.'
He added this was partly because of cultural factors. 'There has been a lot of investment in those cities and Spain has been attracting an increasing number of tourists in recent months,' he said.
SPSL figures also showed Dublin retail traffic struggled. Shopper numbers fell by 1 per cent compared with a 0.5 per cent fall in the UK.
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