ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we examine the development of tourism in Paris not just through its tourism figures, but through the broader planning strategies and tourism policies that are changing the way in which the City thinks about its attractiveness in global competition. We will see how new attractive places in Paris, that are often expected to provide sustainable and alternative forms of leisure and tourism, can generate urban, social, and economic benefits for local communities and provide more creative tourist experiences for visitors. In the latter part of the chapter, we examine the case of Bercy Village, created in 2001 as a consumption space for residents and visitors alike. In order to make sense of this new approach to tourism in the City, we need to understand broad trends and concerns about the continued attractiveness of Paris to outsiders, and concerns about the City’s ability to hold on to its middle-class residents. In addition to looking at the context of tourism trends and emerging policies, we also need to see changing public policy in a wider context, a shift in attitudes to urban development and planning, and the role of the ‘urban project’ in the transformation of French cities. In this way, we can understand the distinctiveness of the Paris case as the City aims to change its image and remain competitive in the global competition for visitors and global competition between the major centres of business wealth and heritage and culture.
