France’s tourism minister unveiled a plan to tackle over-tourism at the country’s most popular tourist attractions on Sunday.
The announcement comes as Paris, currently battling a housing shortage, largely due to the number of homeowners opting for short-term rentals to tourists over traditional rent approaches, expects 37 million tourists this year.
According to, French tourism minister, Olivia Gregoire, the plan will help manage the peak-season numbers that threaten, “the environment, the quality of life for locals, and the experiences for its visitors.”
Etretat, a famed Channel beach, which was featured in Netflix’s mystery crime series, “Lupin”, which is home to 1,200 residents, see’s upwards of 10,000 tourists every day in peak season.
“This massive influx ends up trampling and eroding the cliffs and endangers the beach cliffs,” co-head, Etretat Tomorrow resident’s association, Shai Mallet, said.
“France is the world’s main tourism destination, but we have a series lack of data,” Gregoire, said.
“It’s up to the government, working hand in hand with regional officials and tourist sites, to implement measures for informing tourists and locals, and to help manage crowds.”
One strategy to be employed is daily limits to specific sites.
The island of Brittany of Brehat, for example, will be limited to a total of 4,700 visitors a day during the peak summer months.
Another site with new limits is the Calanques national park, located near Marseille.
The site, that is reachable by a one-hour hike, now lets only 400 people per day in July and August, down from previous limits of 2,500.
Paris will host the Olympic games in 2024, attracting over 10 million people to the city to watch the games’ 32 differing sports.
Source: Travel Weekly
