SCAMS AND MASS TOURISM : A HOT SUMMER IN PARIS ! | M6 | Enquête Exclusive

France is the world’s leading tourist destination, with Paris in the lead. In summer alone, our capital welcomes up to 13 million tourists! And 2024 is set to be a record year, with almost 16 million visitors expected. Tourists dreaming of romance, a coffee on a terrace and a selfie at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, the most “Instagrammed” monument in the world. But the dream may come up against a reality… more mixed. Mass tourism is arriving in an already saturated city, bringing with it a host of nuisances. Crowd management, gridlocked neighborhoods, unmanageable traffic: war is declared between tuktuks, tourist buses and working Parisians. Entire neighborhoods are becoming downright unliveable. Around the Champ de Mars, despite a reinforced police presence, local residents and tourists are the daily victims of violence and scams. On Rue Crémieux, residents are invaded every day, right up to their front porches, by tourists in search of the perfect photo!

For the star bakery of “Emily in Paris”, the dream turns into a nightmare! The owner has to cope with an interminable queue every day, and to top it all off, he has to deal with the negative opinions of disappointed tourists, who expect to enjoy a five-star croissant in this little neighborhood bakery. Then there’s the real estate speculation and the excesses of shopkeepers who charge ever-higher prices, and the Olympic Games aren’t going to help matters. We discovered new scams and traps for tourists. At the end of major events, traditional cabs agree to work on a flat-rate basis, without a meter… even though this is forbidden. Tuktuks are ever more ingenious, charging hundreds of euros for their services! Fake tourist guides who talk nonsense, fake cartoonists who draw nonsense… Paris can become a hellish place, not only for tourists but also for its inhabitants. We take a look at the world’s overheated tourist capital.