Da Vinci film hype cracks tourist record in France

Audrey Tautou stars as French cryptologist Sophie Neveu in The Da Vinci Code. Picture / Reuters

PARIS - French tourist bosses, hotels and restaurants are gearing for the next step in The Da Vinci Code craze when the movie of Dan Brown's novel premieres at the Cannes Festival on Thursday - although others are unhappy at the pitch to the low-brow.

With Tom Hanks driving a film of a book that has already sold 40 million copies, all the elements are there for the Da Vinci Trail business, now in its third year, to make a fortune.

A record 75 million foreigners last year visited France, the world's favourite destination, and The Da Vinci Code is cited as a major lure, especially among Americans, returning to Europe in large numbers after the scare of September 11.

Eurostar, the Channel Tunnel train service, has tapped into the seam, signing a promotional contract with Columbia Pictures to transport Da Vinci pilgrims from London to Paris, the major setting in the book.

The Louvre says it expects the film to help it break its record attendance last year of 7.3 million people, up from the previous best of 6.7 million.

The Code may bring in the money and even inspire interest in Paris - but at the cost of having to break it to a dismaying number of visitors that the book is fiction and indeed larded with errors, despite Brown's assertions "that all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals ... are accurate".

At Saint-Sulpice, a sign soberly warns Da Vinci pilgrims that "contrary to fanciful allegations ... this is not the vestige of a pagan temple".

Over the channel, the Christian Enquiry Centre is distributing 270,000 scratch cards to British cinemas featuring 10 claims made in the book in a bid to separate fact from fiction.

Centre director Jeff Bonsor said: "We want to set the record straight and introduce people to the real story of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the events surrounding the life of arguably the most influential figure in history."

- additional reporting: Independent