Tourism in Paris is increasing – despite unrest in the city. With more visitors comes more tour buses, but that could soon be the end of that. Now the deputy mayor of Paris wants to ban the buses.
Visits to Paris are increasing, and in 2018 the record was broken when 50 million people visited the city. The increase is happening despite unrest in the city in connection with the Yellow Vests. Now Paris is hitting back at tourism, with a ban on tourist buses.
“We no longer want the total anarchy of tourist buses in Paris… Buses are no longer welcome in the heart of the city,” Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoires told the newspaper Le Parisien, writes Traveler.
Tourists can cycle or walk
Tourism in Paris is not yet catastrophic according to Emmanuel Grégoires, but what Parisians are mainly concerned about are the increased number of tour buses that shuttle visitors between tourist attractions in the city, as well as the buses that bring tourists from around Europe to the city. Therefore, the deputy mayor urges tourists to walk, cycle, take local buses or the metro.
“Tourists can do what everyone else does and switch to environmentally friendly mobility options or take public transport. We need to change,” says Gregoire.
The deputy mayor also wants guides to adapt their activities to the situation by arranging bike or walking tours where visitors can wear headphones.
It is still unclear when the ban will come into effect, but pending the decision, parking facilities will be established outside the Paris city center, so that buses do not have to go into the city.
Source: aftonbladet.se
