According to the IDF Regional Tourism Committee statistics published by Le Parisien, Paris remains the world's top tourist destination in 2013 with 32.3 million tourist arrivals in hotels. Nearly 15.5 million of those visitors came from abroad (+8.2%), a record of the decade.
So what
makes Paris so attractive? Does it have something that other cities don’t? Is
the secret in the famous Eiffel Tower? Or in its 20 mini-cities within 1 city? Or
in its quays? Or in its food? Or in Parisians? Or in its opportunities?...Well,
actually there are so many things that make Paris so unique and so popular that
this “or” list could be very-very long.
The
mysterious thing of Paris is that it doesn’t have any precise seasonality – it
always stays more or less dynamic and full of people of different nationalities
(Parisians, tourists, international students (Erasmus), French students from
smaller cities, business-travelers, employees, etc.).
After
having felt Paris as a tourist, as an international student, an intern and,
finally, an employee, I decided to launch this sort of a “Project” to try to
discover Paris from the inside, arrondissement by arrondissement, step-by-step.
Do you want
to know what makes Paris so attractive? If so, join me in my exploration and
let the journey begin!
Prenez
garde à la fermeture automatique des portes, attention au départ: Next stop – Paris,
1st Arrondissement.