France missing American tourists

[SilverPoly]

Bonjour’ Américain

France May Resort to ‘Un-French’ Ways to Lure More American Tourists

By Bob Jamieson

It is a simple request: smile more. But it is at the heart of a wide-ranging
campaign by French officials to win back American tourists and their dollars so
important to France's economy. Recent posters on display in Paris depict Mona
Lisa, one of the Louvre's most famous possessions, with a small alteration: her
mysterious smile is underlined by another, much like the "smiley face"
ubiquitous in America.

Tourism officials in Paris are hopeful that 6,000 such renderings promoting the
"Bonjour Campaign" will encourage hotel clerks, waiters, bus drivers and metro
employees to be nicer and more helpful to tourists.

Its key missive: to smile more.

The French are convinced that the U.S. perception that they — particularly
Parisians — are unfriendly to Americans has added to the tourism decline caused
by France's position on the war with Iraq.

French Position Misunderstood?

On a beautiful June day in Paris, as a cloudless blue sky looks down on familiar
tourist attractions, it is clear something is different. At the Eiffel Tower,
along the Champs Elysees and at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, there are Japanese,
German and British tourists — but few Americans.

"I think they're staying at home," a young Frenchman, Rene Eskengren, said.
"Don't you think so?"

It would appear so: so far this year there are 25 percent fewer Americans
visiting France than a year ago. And a recent study for a large travel agency
found that France had slipped from the No. 2 destination for American travelers
to No. 17. The reason cited is mainly France's position on Iraq.

It has been a rude awakening for French officials.

"I think they're shocked," said Adam Gopnik, who reported for six years from
Paris for The New Yorker magazine. Gopnik said the French believe their position
on Iraq was one of principle, and was not driven by anti-Americanism or
resentment of the United States.

The French are not only shocked, but hurt, he told ABCNEWS. "There's also this
feeling of rejection, of being misunderstood and being maligned unfairly.

"If you're gonna hate France, hate Canada because Canada and France shared
exactly the same policy on this particular issue."

Campaign Emphasizes Face Value

The French have mounted a major campaign to repair the damage done by the war in
Iraq. Its tourist board officials just concluded a monthlong barnstorming tour
of 15 U.S. cities. They're focusing strongly on that smile.

Americans have traditionally been the largest group of foreigners to visit
France each year. Only Japanese visitors spend more money per person there.
Since 2000, the number of U.S. visitors has been declining steadily: from 3.5
million in 2000, to 3 million Americans in 2001 and down to 2.7 million last
year.

At a sidewalk café, Inna Wahl, a young, blonde woman in dark glasses,
acknowledged that even Parisians know there's something to this smile business.
"People say that maybe because of the French attitude that the Americans are not
really keen about going to Paris, which I can understand."

Thierry Baudier, head of the French tourist board, Maiseon de la France ,
referred to a study three years ago which showed that in the rest of the world,
the French were considered arrogant. The campaign, he said, will "show the rest
of the world and the tourist that the French people are friendly, warm and that
we are engaged to welcome them."

At Citadine's Hotel, a familiar place on the American tourist path in Paris,
manager Francois Montbellet has embraced the "Bonjour Campaign" and signed a
contract promising to be more welcoming to tourists. A clerk at the reception
desk welcomes a pair of arriving American backpackers with a clearly forced
smile, but a smile nevertheless.

"They have to know that the French people like Americans and so it's good for
this," said Montbellet.

But will everyone in Paris start smiling more and replace the traditional Gallic
shrug with a welcoming embrace and even a few words in English?

"I've never heard about this 'Bonjour' program," said Frenchman Eskengren. He
doubts it will have much impact. "French people are very chauvinist, very proud.
And when you come to France, you speak French."

Near the Champs Elysees, Jean-Luc Margot-Duclot, a tour bus operator, wonders
about the "Bonjour Campaign" and the clash of French and American cultures.
Sitting on the upper deck of an empty bus, he says, "It's not in our culture. I
know that in the states you learn to smile when you're very young. It's not
something we have in France."

Gopnik has watched in Paris as the two cultures have clashed and says history
indicates this campaign faces an uphill struggle with the French. "They can't
get over the smiley-ness of Americans. Americans smile at you when they're
putting you in handcuffs when they take you off to prison. They see our
smiley-ness as kind of false intimacy, a false warmth."

Margot-Duclot had some advice for Americans. "There's a very simple thing you
need to know. First, ask a French person if he speaks English before speaking to
him in English. That's something a French person really doesn't like."

Will the French smile if doing so will bring back the Americans? They might,
since this is not just a cultural issue, but also an economic one. The French
economy has already lost nearly $1 billion this year, money un-spent by
Americans in France.

[RickM]

"...Gopnik, who reported for six years from
Paris for The New Yorker magazine"

"Gopnik has watched in Paris as the two cultures have clashed and says history indicates this campaign faces an uphill struggle with the French. "They can't get over the smiley-ness of Americans. Americans smile at you when they're putting you in handcuffs when they take you off to prison. They see our smiley-ness as kind of false intimacy, a false warmth."


Yeah, right. When I walk through NYC I'm bowled over by all the people smiling at me. What planet is this guy from?

[yellow911turbo]

The French are not only shocked, but hurt, he told ABCNEWS. "There's also this feeling of rejection, of being misunderstood and being maligned unfairly.

"If you're gonna hate France, hate Canada because Canada and France shared exactly the same policy on this particular issue."

That is absolutely hilarious. Very childish and a naive thing to say.

I want to see Chirac on his knees asking for forgiveness for being a jerk and a dick. I want him to go to Iraq and look at the Iraqi people in the face. I want him to apologize to Bush in front of the rest of the world. I want him to admit to being a wuss. Only then I will CONSIDER visiting France. I'm within driving distance of Paris and Nice and I've always wanted to go to Nice.

[911ctS]

When I graduated high school in 2000!! I took an exploration trip over to Europe and visited 13 different countries over the course of 2 months. I can honestly say that the most unfriendly and least fun was FRANCE. I could go on and on about how big of *********s I thought they were, but I'll save everyone the time and energy. All I know is that I will never, ever, go there again and I will never buy a french product ever again.

But hey, If your one of those wealthy "sophisticated" "businessmen" who makes frequent ventures to Paris over a quiet weekend then its probably just your cup of tea.

[CamB]

I want to see Chirac on his knees asking for forgiveness for being a jerk and a dick. I want him to go to Iraq and look at the Iraqi people in the face. I want him to apologize to Bush in front of the rest of the world. I want him to admit to being a wuss.

Geez, I only have to swap Chirac and Bush around and change "wuss" to "warmonger".

[fintstone]

"French people are very chauvinist, very proud. And when you come to France, you speak French."

Last time I went to France, I spoke to the waiter in French...he pretended not to understand and then stepped away and made fun of the stupid American to another waiter in German (which I also understood), so I spoke in English which he still pretended not to understand...and continued insulting Americans in German. Next I spoke to him in German.....He no longer thought he was so funny and understood me perfectly. I drove back to Germany and kept my money. I hope he lost his job.

[Adam]

I'd go to France on vacation, except it's full of the French!

[island911]

. . .what, when they spit ?

[Brillo]

APRIL FOOLS!

[vash]

my girlfriend wants to travel this year. and france is on her list. i dont think i would have much fun, trying to balance that bigass chip on my shoulders. maybe i will meet her on the other side...

[fintstone]

Unfixed
They don't miss Americans, of course. They only miss our dollars. Fly into Germany....drive to Paris, but pack a lunch and try not to buy anything.....see the sights, use their crappers, take your pictures, and leave. Wave bye with a single finger!
Personally, I enjoyed Northern Italy much more..Pisa, Venice, and the Italian Riviera are all a day's drive from Frankfurt....Unless you make too many detours to the Black Forest and such.

[911ctS]

Unfixed, Go to Germany! All the way, you'll love it and your girlfriend will too.

Of course... hit up the factory and museum while your there.

[speeder]

I'd actually love to go to Europe this year, but it's crazy expensive w/ the exchange rate now. Do you guys know that the price of fuel hasn't gone up in Europe because of the strong euro:dollar situation? (Oil prices are always in dollars).

I was in Paris in '02 and found people to be OK, it was 6 months after 9/11 and there was a lot of sympathy for Americans. France has seen its share of terrorism. I had only one rude waiter, so I just treated him like the biatch the was, frankly I live for that kind of *****. I really wanted to slap him to sleep and then slap him for sleeping, but he wouldn't take it that far. I wish that I spoke a few languages like you, Fintstone, that would be fun!

Really I think that the weak dollar and uncertain economic conditions have more to do w/ U.S. tourism being down in France than Franco-hating, plus the fear of being a terrorism target doesn't help matters any. I wouldn't go near the Eiffel Tower when I was there, no way Jose'.

[fintstone]

Denis
I do think I made him wet his pants! I was young and somewhat rough then. I am pretty rusty now, but at one time could pass for a German most anywhere (if I could control the conversation) or a Frenchman (except in France) as long as I acted sorta sissy when I spoke.

[rammstein]

I also went on european tour in high school. England was nice. Spain was amazing- I was treated very nicely and the facilities were clean (this was in Madrid). I also spent time in Italy. I was treated fairly there as well. France was a disaster. They treated me like I had the plague, and mind you I was following their little rules, speaking in French and being respectful. Everything was filthy, they call a hole in the ground with a roll of TP next to it a toilet. I would also like to know who determined France to be a center of high culture? I think culture starts with politeness and follows up with hygeine.

And when people came into Subway with a French accent when I worked there, I treated them no differently than any other customer. They got their sandwich just like everyone else. Who knows why its too much for me to expect the same when I am there? To be rude to (respectful) foreigners is the definition of LOW culture.

Its too bad, because the French countryside was quite picturesque.

[JavaBrewer]

Great wine in France - obviously. Food there is mediocre - though their bakeries are top notch. Best meal in France is wine, of course, and a picnic basket with fresh bread, pasteries, and some deli items. Scenery is great put takes a back seat to Austria and Switzerland.

As a tourist you are at the mercy of the local inhabitants. I've been all over Europe (North to Stockholm, South to Crete), England, and Scotland and have to say the French, especially in Paris, ruin the experience. Sure I've met and drank with some truely outstanding folks in Normandy, Champagne, and Chamonix, but overall the majority of the folks I encountered were very unfriendly. On more occasions than not they seemed to go out of their way to ruin your day. After 3 trips there I have no intention of ever going back.

[Overpaid Slacker]

My antipathy for the French well predates the current Iraq situation, and I don't think it's soluble by smiles or any other ruse to get my ducats. Decades of petulence, obstructionism, petty sniping, ingratitude and avid support for enemies of the US and the West generally cannot be erased or forgiven. Twice I've had opportunities to travel to Paris for what would've essentially been free, and I turned both down, preferring once not to travel at all and once to pay my own way to Prague instead.

This is not to say I necessarily have something against every (or any) French person in particular. I learned an expression while living in the Netherlands, a country that still carries a good deal of enmity towards Germany for WWII. Even my contemporary Dutch friends, when they found out I was dating a German and travelling to Cologne with her said "JP, while you're there, steal some bicycles back" with not a little seriousness. Aside: the Wehrmacht confiscated the bikes of the Dutch for the steel; and bikes are a beloved transport staple in the Netherlands and of all the horrors visited upon the Dutch, this one seemed to engender the most bitter feelings in my friends and colleagues.

I won't even attempt it in Dutch, but the expression is something like "All Germans are *********s. Except the ones I know." That's about as close as I can come to "soundbiting" my feelings toward the French.

JP

[911ctS]

Ahhh... This is one OT thread where we all seem to share a common opinion. Way to go!!

This is what makes these BBS's very cool. You get to reflect on real peoples opinions and most often they're very different opinions at that. Glad to see the comrodary here on this subject. I dont personally agree with everything the US does, but all and all I'm moderately proud to be part of it.

[Aurel]

I have noticed that conservatives tend to hate the french, while liberals are more friendly to them. At any rate, all I can say is that pretty soon, at the rate at which the dollar is devaluating against the euro, the lack of americain tourism in France will not be an issue anymore

Aurel

[Jim Richards]

I'd much rather go to Quebec...much nicer people and a much nicer French experience.