A charm offensive to woo back tourists frightened off by terror attacks in Paris and Nice has been so successful that France is now struggling to cope with record numbers of visitors.
People are forced to queue for hours in sweltering heat at sites such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Château of Versailles, the Mont-Saint-Michel, the Château of Chambord, and Carcassonne. Tourists are being urged to make online bookings up to three months in advance to see the sights. Many popular attractions are considering introducing a sliding scale of charges to encourage more visits outside peak times.
France is the world's most popular tourist destination, despite a dip after a string of attacks in 2015 and 2016. Tourism represents nearly 10 per cent of its GDP and supports about three million jobs. France is expected to receive more than 90 million foreign visitors this year - 100 million by 2020.
Christian Mantel, head of Atout France, the national tourism development agency, said: "If nothing is done, in five years' time it will be necessary to regulate the number of first-time foreign visitors to France. In Paris, 80 per cent of sites that tourists absolutely want to see are along the banks of the Seine and they are close to saturation. For now, France hasn't reached crisis point, but we're close to it. Above a certain number of visitors, sites will be forced to turn people away."
So far relations between tourists and locals are generally amiable. France has not had to contend with the anti-tourist protests or graffiti that have hit Venice, Amsterdam and Barcelona, but officials fear resentment is building. Last year Dubrovnik announced drastic limits on entry to its Old Town. Venetians have protested against visiting cruise ships, and sightseeing buses have been attacked in Barcelona.
