2023-08-01 19:15:00
REPORTAGE – Parisians denounce growing insecurity in the capital, and are concerned about the attractiveness of their city, the world’s leading tourist destination. The riots that shook France, and in particular the Paris region, added to this concern. On July 20, France-Evening therefore went to meet foreign tourists in the most visited district of the capital, the 7th arrondissement of Paris, near the Eiffel Tower. What image does the City of Light have in the eyes of visitors from other countries? Are they happy with their stay, or is a feeling of fear spoiling their discovery of the capital? First, everything’s good ! The international visitors interviewed explain, at the microphone of France-Evening, be happy to have made the trip and very much appreciate their visit. As for the recent popular uprisings, either they simply ignore that they happened, or they do not interpret them as a danger. (see more after the video)
Between the recording of the report and the scheduled date of its broadcast, a tragedy occurred at the Champ de Mars on the night of Wednesday July 26 to Thursday July 27. A 27-year-old Mexican woman said she was raped by five men. This sad news story was widely reported by the media and sparked a number of political controversies.
We therefore returned to the Eiffel Tower district to find out if the tragedy had affected the serenity of visitors to the site. The thirteen foreign tourists interviewed told us that they had not heard of the incident. They also told us that knowing about it would in any case not have caused them any particular concern: they consider such an attack as a rare news item, which could occur“in any city”. Paris is, in their eyes, no more dangerous than any other big city in the world.
Admittedly, it is necessary to be more vigilant at night, but a certain nocturnal insecurity is not specific to the French capital. Foreign tourists told us that their main subject of concern is not, in fact, the fear of a physical attack which they consider unlikely, but the presence of pickpockets, in the metro and in very touristy areas. Finally, the only people showing an increased feeling of insecurity are the four French visitors with whom we spoke. And again, the latter consider that the increase in media hype around news items can largely contribute to the decline in their peace of mind.
#tourists #feel #safe #Paris