French to hike hotel tax by 500%

Tourists in France are set to face a 500% rise in hotel tax. The controversial measure, already approved by Parliament after being initiated by Socialist MPs, will see up to £8 added to Parisian room rates.

If rubber-stamped by the Senate, visitors to French hotels would find a tax of £6.40 (8€) on their bills, rather than the current £1.20 (1.50€). This figure will rise to £8 (10€) in Paris – the most popular tourist destination in the world, where, among some 30 million a year, the biggest visitor group is British. 

While small hotels will be able to charge less, critics said the measure will stop people coming to France, which has plunged into economic chaos since a Socialist government came to power in 2012.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2674495/French-hike-hotel-tax-500-cent-Controversial-set-add-8-cost-room.html#ixzz366Q7iweA

Rude Parisians

The world's most popular city, Paris, has a reputation as the rudest place on earth for tourists. In an effort to combat this, French authorities have launched an appeal for locals to refrain from the ‘Gallic snarl’ in encounters with foreign visitors.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, warned that surliness was a pothole on the road to tourism victory: “The logic is simple. An unhappy tourist is a tourist who never comes back.”

No doubt there are many Parisians, in particular, who would not find that a matter for regret. Every summer they must endure an invasion of big bottoms in bad shorts, booming foreign voices and boors who fail to realise that under the French code of courtesy, any approach from a stranger should begin with a polite “Bonjour” – and be followed by at least a minimal effort to start the conversation in French.

But the fact remains that international surveys have repeatedly found that foreign visitors rate the French capital as one of the world’s most hostile places - although France is currently also the world’s most visited country.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/RudeParisians