For the 2nd year in a row, Paris City Hall and the Paris Tourism Office have launched an initiative to make the city more friendly to tourists. Last year, the mayor of Paris handed out leaflets at the Eiffel Tower. The leaflets described a charter on how to treat tourists visiting the city. Now, the theme has shifted to a more proactive agenda with the slogan of "Paris Smiles for You!"
This ongoing intiative was prompted by a Global Market Institute Study that ranked Paris 52nd out of 60 cities on hospitality. In other words, Paris shows its arrogance and impoliteness first and foremost to its 16.3 million annual visitors.
After spending a year in Paris, arriving at the peak of spring, seeing the wave of tourists flock to the city in the summer and then experiencing a quieter city in the winter - I found that it's not so much that Parisians are rude. Quite the contrary. Meet any given Parisian and more than likely they are going to be very friendly. Put the same person in a customer service role, and you might not experience the same cheery disposition.
It's as if customer service is not expected to be provided in a job (of the same description). He or she may be there to fulfill the position's duties, but providing customer service does not appear to be one of them. This includes some restaurants, department stores and major chain stores.
That said, one can find remarkable customer service at local businesses - at the butcher, boulangerie, and local outdoor markets - however these are not the places where tourists typically go.
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So now that the Paris Tourism website has featured snapshots of smiling local Parisians and a human formation of red lips at the Arc de Triomphe, I'm sure that those in customer service roles at tourist-popular places are still not exactly beaming.
For more information, visit the site of Paris Smiles for You!
Photo credit: parisinfo.com
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By Margaret Li on Friday, July 11, 2008 @ 12:15 AM
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