Custom in Rome restaurants fell by 25% after Paris

(ANSA) - Rome, November 25 - Rome restaurants saw custom fall by an average of 25% and by 50% in central areas the weekend after the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, the Rome branch of retailers' association Confcommercio Rosario Cerra said Wednesday. Box office taking at city cinemas dropped 20% and 6% of hotel reservations were cancelled, he added.
    "Now the situation is rapidly returning to normal because people are moving from the gut reaction to the head reaction," Cerra said.
    "However our appeal to Romans is not to relinquish their quality of life," he added. Confcommercio said it would be putting up Christmas lights where possible to increase the perception of safety.
    In addition, it is working on a project to create 'sentinel shopkeepers' specially trained to alert law enforcement to situations of concern.