Tourism development in Paris: Public intervention

Abstract

This paper examines aspects of the development of tourism in Paris and attempts to identify and evaluate the ways and extent that public intervention, both national and municipal, has explicitly fostered the growth of tourism in the city or actively managed its development. The three examples examined in detail—urban planning, the redevelopment of the Champs-Elysées, and the Grand Louvre—suggest public intervention in this sector has generally only come about as part of much broader urban policies and practices, particularly those promoting the image of the city and fostering its wider influence. Broader cultural and political considerations often appear to outweigh more immediate economic gains.