Paris Street Protests Take Violent Turn as Tourism Convention Season Begins
Photo Credit: Tourists watching police and protesters in central Paris, whose tourism suffered this summer, on September 15, 2016. Skift / Greg Sandoval
Skift Take
In early summer when it's just about leisure tourists, this may fly. But it's no longer summer in Paris, and it's no longer about leisure travel.
Efforts by Paris tourism officials to re-establish the city's reputation as a safe place to visit took another step backward on Thursday.
French citizens opposed to the government's plan to change the country's labor laws, which would in part make it easier for employers to lay off workers and pay less overtime, once again clashed with police at the conclusion of a march in Paris. Since February, more than a dozen protests have been organized by labor unions, leftist groups and students, and almost all have included brawls between police and opponents of the new labor law.
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But on Thursday, the violence appeared to reach a new level. Police charged protesters dozens of times thwacking many with their batons as demonstrators threw rocks and bottles at the officers. At least two policemen suffered burns after masked protesters struck them with Molotov cocktails -- glass bottl
