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Paris ramps up tourist security amid Chinese concerns
France said on Friday it would work harder to safeguard tourists in Paris after a spate of muggings of Asian visitors made such headlines in China that the Chinese embassy demanded action.
Interior and Tourism Ministers Manuel Valls and Sylvia Pinel said on a tour of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower that 200 police had been put on patrol to protect tourists and steps were being taken to help foreigners prevent and report crime.
France is the world's most-visited country and solid tourism revenues are a bright spot in its depressed economy.
But reports of pickpockets and muggers targeting Chinese tourists have soared of late, tarnishing the French capital's image as a favored destination for love-struck couples and high-end shoppers.
"Paris is a safe city. What we want to say today is: tourists and friends from all over the world, come to Paris, welcome to Paris, bienvenido a Paris!" Valls told journalists.
Petty crimes against Chinese nationals jumped 22 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, a Paris police official told Reuters. He said Asian tourists were targeted because they were known to carry a lot of cash on them.
Staff at the Louvre went on strike in April over a surge in pickpockets, shutting the world's most-visited museum for a day.
Security guards say Chinese tourists visiting France for the first time seem to get more easily distracted than more seasoned European tourists when gazing at works like the Mona Lisa.
Police recently issued a "Guide to staying safe in Paris" - translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish - advising tourists to carry a minimum of cash, favor small banknotes and watch out for gangs of teenagers, commonly from eastern Europe, who pick pockets while conducting phoney petitions.
At the Louvre, tourists can now file legal complaints directly on site in 16 languages without going to the police.
Some 1.4 million Chinese visited France last year, up 23 pct from 2011. Millionaires in China rate it their top destination.
But a group of 75 French luxury brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hermes warned in May that Chinese buyers, the world's top spenders, risk favoring London or Milan as they view Paris as dangerous.
In March, a group of 23 Chinese were robbed within hours of landing in Paris. In June, six Chinese wine-making students were assaulted in Bordeaux in an attack Valls called "xenophobic".
The Chinese embassy has pressed French authorities in recent months to address the issue, which was also raised when Socialist President Francois Hollande last traveled to China in April to meet his counterpart Xi Jinping.
Jean-Francois Zhou, head of Ansel travel agency which runs tours to and from China, said he advised clients not to take the metro or leave their hotel at night. His tour guides pepper their talk with warnings like "pickpockets to your right".
"It's a killjoy," he said. "These visitors have big dreams about Paris but things like this smash their illusions."
法国巴黎加强安保措施 消除中国游客疑虑
据英国媒体8月2日报道,法国政府2日表示将进一步加强对巴黎游客的安保工作.此前,巴黎发生多起亚洲游客遭抢劫事件,成为中国的焦点新闻.中国大使馆要求法国方面采取措施.
法国内政部长曼努埃尔•瓦尔斯和旅游部长西尔维娅•皮内尔当天在视察卢浮宫和埃菲尔铁塔时说,法国方面已派出200名警员进行巡逻,并且正采取措施避免此类事件再次发生.
巴黎警方最近发布了《巴黎旅游安全指南》,建议游客尽量少带现金,钞票面值最好比较�.挂粢馇嗌倌晖呕�,他们通常来自东欧.该册子译有中文、日语、韩语和西班牙语版本.现在,卢浮宫提供16种语言的法律投诉服务,游客可当场直接投诉,而无需去警局.
瓦尔斯对记者说："巴黎是个安全的城市.我们今天想说：世界各地的游客和朋友们,来巴黎吧,巴黎欢迎你们！"
法国游客数量为世界之最,稳定的旅游收入是低迷的法国经济的一大亮点.巴黎一直为热恋中得情侣和高端消费者所亲睐,但近来中国游客在巴黎遭遇扒手和劫匪的报道骤然增多,使其形象大跌.一位巴黎警官告诉英国媒体,今年第一季度针对中国籍游客的轻度犯罪比一年前增长了22%.他说,罪犯瞄准亚洲游客是因为知道他们身上携带有大量现金.
法国是中国百万富翁的首选旅游地.去年法国约有140万中国游客,比2011年上升了23%.但是,包括香奈儿、路易·威登、迪奥和爱马仕在内的75个法国奢侈品牌5月份发出警告称,作为世界顶级消费者的中国顾客更愿意去伦敦或米兰,因为他们觉得巴黎很危险.
今年3月,一个23人的中国旅游团在抵达巴黎后仅几个小时就遭到抢劫.6月,6名酿酒专业的中国留学生在波尔多遇袭,瓦尔斯将此事定性为"排外".中国大使馆近几个月来一直在向法国当局施压,要求解决这一问题.今年4月,法国总统奥朗德与中国国家主席习近平会见时,也谈及了这一问题.
经营着往来中国的旅游业务的法国安塞尔旅行社社长让—弗朗索瓦·周（音译）建议说客户晚上不要乘坐地铁或离开旅馆.他的导游经常警告游客,比如"扒手就在你的右边".他说："这很煞风景.这些游客对巴黎有美好的憧憬,但往往因这样的事情而败兴."
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