Chinese tourists suffering from Paris-syndrome sickness
Grittier side of Paris falls short of their romanticised ideal
Bloomberg 18 August 2014
Like their Japanese counterparts, first-time visitors from China - fed on media reports and movies such as An American in Paris, or Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain - arrive expecting to see a quaint, affluent and friendly European city with smartly dressed men and women smelling of Chanel No. 5.
Instead, they discover Paris’ grittier side - packed metros, rude waiters and pickpockets intent on robbing cash-carrying tourists - all of which send them into psychological shock.
“Chinese people romanticise France, they know about French literature and French love stories,” said Jean-Francois Zhou, president of the Chinese association of travel agencies in France. “But some of them end up in tears, swearing they’ll never come back.”
For France, continuing to attract Chinese tourists, about a million of whom visit Paris every year, is key to rekindling an economy that stagnated in the second quarter, figures released recently by national statistics office Insee showed. Tourism accounted for 7.2 per cent of France’s GDP in 2012, according to the Tourism Satellite Account.
Now, the boom in Chinese tourists is beginning to slow, partly because of reluctance to spend large sums in the face of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown, and partly because of concern about the welcome awaiting them in Paris, Mr Zhou said.
Although less numerous than Americans, 900,000 Chinese tourists descended on the Paris region last year, almost half the 1.7 million visitors to France from the country, Thomas Deschamps, head of the Paris Tourism Office, said. That was a 23 per cent increase from 2012.
So far this year, the growth has been 11 per cent compared with the same period in 2013.
Chinese tourists also aid the economy as consumers. About 60 per cent of them went shopping in Paris in 2012, according to a report by the city’s tourism office, snapping up items such as bags from Louis Vuitton and Chanel and Hermes scarves. They spent 59 euros (S$98) a day on average, slightly more than the 56 euros shelled out by the Japanese and more than double the average 26 euros.
Because they carry large amounts of cash, Chinese tourists are often targeted by pickpockets.
Pickpockets have been so numerous in Paris that last year, the staff at the Louvre museum went on strike to demand a greater on-site police presence.
Chinese media reported that 48 tourists were robbed in May as they headed to their hotel in a suburb of Paris. In France, the problem was highlighted by the mugging of a group of Chinese tourists in Le Bourget, near Paris, said Muriel Sobry, police chief of eighth arrondissement of Paris, which covers the avenue des Champs-Elysees. “Paris is a romantic city, but it’s naive to believe it’s crime-free,” she said.
Safety is a primary concern for Chinese. In 2012, Paris had excellent satisfaction ratings for everything from food to service and cultural events. It failed on two counts: safety and cleanliness. The two categories had satisfaction levels of 58 per cent and 64 per cent respectively, according to a survey conducted by the Paris Tourism Office.
A few months ago, China offered to send some of its own police to Paris to help tourists, Mr Deschamps said. It did not happen because the two sides could not agree under whose rules the Chinese police would operate, Ms Sobry said.
Still, the city “has realised that Asian tourists are vulnerable”, Mr Deschamps said.
This summer, Paris deployed mobile police stations in buses parked near key landmarks of the city.
“Don’t put your mobile phone on the table at the cafe” and “avoid wearing expensive jewellery” are among the advice given in the “Paris safety guide”, which has been available in Chinese since 2013. The Paris Police website is also now accessible in Chinese. “It isn’t just about safety,” Michel Lejoyeux, head of psychiatry at Paris’s Bichat hospital, said in an interview. “Excessive emotions, a new language, a new currency, all these changes make some travellers feel like they’ve lost their bearings.”
To be sure, the sentiments reported by travellers to Paris are not unique.
Mr Lejoyeux points to the “Florence syndrome”, described by French novelist Stendhal in the 19th century after he was overwhelmed by the beauty of Michelangelo’s David. The “Jerusalem syndrome” refers to “mystical” events and hallucinations experienced by some visitors to the holy city.
The Paris syndrome is different in that it stems from the reality falling short of romanticised expectations. The visitors have to contend with unfriendly locals and tourism professionals who aren’t always welcoming, Mr Zhou said.
To change that image, the Chamber of Commerce for Tourism in the Paris region created the “Do You Speak Tourist?” programme, which offers industry professionals online language training and information by nationality.
For the time being, however, visitors from China, like the Japanese before them, will continue to come up against a City of Light that lacks the lustre of their idealised image. - Bloomberg
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Chinese tourists suffering from Paris-syndrome sickness
Grittier side of Paris falls short of their romanticised ideal
Bloomberg
18 August 2014
Like their Japanese counterparts, first-time visitors from China - fed on media reports and movies such as An American in Paris, or Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain - arrive expecting to see a quaint, affluent and friendly European city with smartly dressed men and women smelling of Chanel No. 5.
Instead, they discover Paris’ grittier side - packed metros, rude waiters and pickpockets intent on robbing cash-carrying tourists - all of which send them into psychological shock.
“Chinese people romanticise France, they know about French literature and French love stories,” said Jean-Francois Zhou, president of the Chinese association of travel agencies in France. “But some of them end up in tears, swearing they’ll never come back.”
For France, continuing to attract Chinese tourists, about a million of whom visit Paris every year, is key to rekindling an economy that stagnated in the second quarter, figures released recently by national statistics office Insee showed. Tourism accounted for 7.2 per cent of France’s GDP in 2012, according to the Tourism Satellite Account.
Now, the boom in Chinese tourists is beginning to slow, partly because of reluctance to spend large sums in the face of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown, and partly because of concern about the welcome awaiting them in Paris, Mr Zhou said.
Although less numerous than Americans, 900,000 Chinese tourists descended on the Paris region last year, almost half the 1.7 million visitors to France from the country, Thomas Deschamps, head of the Paris Tourism Office, said. That was a 23 per cent increase from 2012.
So far this year, the growth has been 11 per cent compared with the same period in 2013.
Chinese tourists also aid the economy as consumers. About 60 per cent of them went shopping in Paris in 2012, according to a report by the city’s tourism office, snapping up items such as bags from Louis Vuitton and Chanel and Hermes scarves. They spent 59 euros (S$98) a day on average, slightly more than the 56 euros shelled out by the Japanese and more than double the average 26 euros.
Because they carry large amounts of cash, Chinese tourists are often targeted by pickpockets.
Pickpockets have been so numerous in Paris that last year, the staff at the Louvre museum went on strike to demand a greater on-site police presence.
Chinese media reported that 48 tourists were robbed in May as they headed to their hotel in a suburb of Paris. In France, the problem was highlighted by the mugging of a group of Chinese tourists in Le Bourget, near Paris, said Muriel Sobry, police chief of eighth arrondissement of Paris, which covers the avenue des Champs-Elysees. “Paris is a romantic city, but it’s naive to believe it’s crime-free,” she said.
Safety is a primary concern for Chinese. In 2012, Paris had excellent satisfaction ratings for everything from food to service and cultural events. It failed on two counts: safety and cleanliness. The two categories had satisfaction levels of 58 per cent and 64 per cent respectively, according to a survey conducted by the Paris Tourism Office.
A few months ago, China offered to send some of its own police to Paris to help tourists, Mr Deschamps said. It did not happen because the two sides could not agree under whose rules the Chinese police would operate, Ms Sobry said.
Still, the city “has realised that Asian tourists are vulnerable”, Mr Deschamps said.
This summer, Paris deployed mobile police stations in buses parked near key landmarks of the city.
“Don’t put your mobile phone on the table at the cafe” and “avoid wearing expensive jewellery” are among the advice given in the “Paris safety guide”, which has been available in Chinese since 2013. The Paris Police website is also now accessible in Chinese. “It isn’t just about safety,” Michel Lejoyeux, head of psychiatry at Paris’s Bichat hospital, said in an interview. “Excessive emotions, a new language, a new currency, all these changes make some travellers feel like they’ve lost their bearings.”
To be sure, the sentiments reported by travellers to Paris are not unique.
Mr Lejoyeux points to the “Florence syndrome”, described by French novelist Stendhal in the 19th century after he was overwhelmed by the beauty of Michelangelo’s David. The “Jerusalem syndrome” refers to “mystical” events and hallucinations experienced by some visitors to the holy city.
The Paris syndrome is different in that it stems from the reality falling short of romanticised expectations. The visitors have to contend with unfriendly locals and tourism professionals who aren’t always welcoming, Mr Zhou said.
To change that image, the Chamber of Commerce for Tourism in the Paris region created the “Do You Speak Tourist?” programme, which offers industry professionals online language training and information by nationality.
For the time being, however, visitors from China, like the Japanese before them, will continue to come up against a City of Light that lacks the lustre of their idealised image. - Bloomberg
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