Paris unveils new tourism policy to woo back tourists

France to spend big in effort to win back scared tourists

Paris is planning to launch a ‘charm offensive’ in order to bring visitors back to the city and reignite foreign visitors’ ‘love affair’ with the City of Light.

To boost the tourism sector after the hard blow of terrorist attacks, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, released her new tourism plan. The mayor presented 59 concrete actions spread across four major axes, focusing on renovation, promotion, as well as online services for the visitors.

The city of Paris also plans to obtain the title ‘Destination for All’ – a distinction awarded by the Ministry of Tourism to destinations which develop their tourism offers to accommodate people with disabilities or handicaps.

The city of Paris also proposes to renovate the existing buildings, to create seven ‘tourist territories’ and to ‘affirm the role’ of the Parisian nightlife.

In order to strengthen business tourism, this axis also details the promotion of the Made in Paris brand, to develop ‘green tourism’ of woods, parks, and gardens, and to erect new tourist districts. The first axis also promises to develop the banks of the Seine and the canals of the city and to envision the possibility of swimming there.

Visitor experience to be revamped

A new hotline and online assistance for tourists is also part of the tourism plan and visitors will have WiFi access throughout the capital. The focus will be put on the dematerialisation of tickets within the capital and improvement regarding the reduction of waiting times in tourist areas. The implementation of a mobility coach which is environment-friendly and better integrated into public space is another initiative that will interest transporters.

According to the new tourism plan, the city will offer a “federation of ecosystem of Parisian tourism” in a committee for the destination of Paris, as well as “support for training and employment,” a “stimulation of innovation” of the industry, and everything else to put tourism at the heart of the international strategy of the city.

Paris will also implement a hotel supply development plan in order to reach 142,000 rooms in the metropolis by 2024, which is consistent with an improvement in the capacity of travel by air, rail, and road.