Let’s go deeper in the
subject! What adjustments Paris tourist spots offer to foreign visitors? If you
want to know our point of view, read this short article.
I’ll try to be brief as we already
talk about tourism in Paris, in previous articles. The goal here is to go
deeper into the subject by identifying adjustments Paris tourist spots offer to
foreign visitors.
“For several years the destination
Paris, Ile-de-France has been the most visited tourist region in the world. […]
Tourism is one of its major business sectors. From an economic point of view,
it represents about 600,000 direct and indirect jobs. A dynamic sector, the
number of people it employs is also increasing at a rate of growth higher
overall than other business sector. By creating employment, tourism also
generates a lot of wealth. For instance, it alone generates nearly 10% of the
region’s gross domestic product (GDP).” (Le nouveau Paris, Ile-de-France, 2013)
To plan a trip or visits in
a specific place, the Internet seems to be the most used tool. Hundreds of
travel and sightseeing websites are available for tourists that wish to learn
about the destination and organize their stay. The Ile-de-France Regional
Tourism Committee by agreement with the Ile-de-France Regional Council created
one, called “Le nouveau Paris, Ile-de-France” to promote the region as a
tourism destination.
This website is available in
French, English, Spanish and German and targets Paris visitors and future Paris
visitors. The entire stay in Paris can be plan on this website: from housing to
where to eat, where to go and what to visit. This website is quite
comprehensive. The goal of this website is to help users access to the
information they need, to plan their trip and help them do more during their
time in Paris. A paper guide has even been created. It lists all the tourist
places to visit in Paris and its region and give you practical information and
tips about each sites.
Below is an example of useful information for tourist
about the Eiffel Tower provided in the paper guide.
Useful
information for tourist about the Eiffel Tower
In terms of cultural sites
to visit, Paris does not lack of it. As a tourist you’ll always find something
to do or visit in this city.
According to the website “Tout-Paris.org”,
here is Paris tourist spot ranking top 10, in terms of number of visitors in
2012:
As we can see on the table
above English is the language the most offered in terms of tourist information
in Paris, followed by Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese and Asian languages
such as Japanese, Mandarin and Korean. It is not surprising to find a large
number of European languages, given the geographical proximity of these
countries with France. Asian languages are so much offered due to the
percentage of tourists in Paris that come from Asia. According to a study carried
out in 2012 by the Shanghai-based company Hurun Report, traveling Chinese
millionaires are increasingly attracted by Europe and mostly France for their
purchases of luxury items. The number of Chinese travelers abroad has increased
from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012, according to the UNWTO (The
World Tourism Organization). At the same time the international tourism
expenditures of these travelers have almost eightfold (L’Express. L’Expansion,
4th June 2013). The expenditures of Asian tourists represent
significant revenues for the city of Paris that is why it is important to
attract them.
What
can be noted is that to facilitate the access and payments for visitors, the Paris
Museum Pass has been created.
This pass provides unlimited
access, without queuing, to more than 60 museums and monuments in Paris and its
surrounding region. It provides access to museums’ permanent collections. Four
different versions of it are available depending on the length of your stay:
two days, four days or six days. It can be bought at tourism information
points.
Once again we can see that
communication is the most important element. When visiting a cultural site
abroad, the tourist is expecting brochures, explanations, information about it
that he can understand. That is why offering brochures translated into
different languages and multilingual staff and guides is important on a tourist
site. Visitors will feel welcome and at ease.
References:
About.com, Paris Travel. 2013.
L’Express.
L’expansion. 2013, June 4th. La France
attire toujours autant les riches touristes chinois.
Retrieved
from: http://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/economie/la-france-attire-toujours-autant-les-riches-touristes-chinois_387932.html
Le nouveau Paris,
Ile-de-France. 2013.
Tout-Paris.org.
2013. Classement des sites culturels
français les plus visités.
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