The mayor of Paris is again defending the City of Lights as a destination. But this time her comments are not aimed at calming potential tourists in the wake of another terror attack—but rather come after police reported that one high-profile visitor was held up at gunpoint and robbed of more than $10 million in jewelry.
Five attackers wearing ski masks stormed into Kim Kardashian West’s room in an exclusive Paris apartment, where the reality television star was staying during Paris Fashion Week, taking with them a box with at least $5.6 million of jewelry and a ring worth about $4.5 million, Reuters reported.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said the reported robbery was “very rare” and “in no way calls into question police work or security of public space” in Paris, the Associated Press reported.
Few tourists will ever own, let alone experience the headache of traveling with such a jewelry collection. So the incident shows just how sensitive Paris officials have become to bad press following several terror attacks, including the series of shootings on Nov. 13, 2015 that was Europe’s deadliest terrorist attack in a decade.
Paris received one million fewer visitors in the first half of the year, compared with the same period of 2016, a decline that equaled about €750 million ($841 million) in lost revenue.
Hidalgo called on lawmakers not to use the incident for political gain, fearing a further deterioration of the city’s reputation.
“In a complicated context for tourism, in which boosting attendance must be the priority of all, using this incident for polemical purposes would amount to directly harming the tourism sector, which represents 500,000 jobs” in and around Paris, she said.