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Faced with a fall in tourist numbers due to the financial crisis and a reputation for unfriendliness, the Paris tourist board has made a simple request of the city's residents: smile.
Visitors to Paris, the world's most visited city, have fallen 17 percent since January compared with the same period in 2008, official figures show.
To counter the slump and boost revenues, the tourist board has set up stands manned by teams of "smile ambassadors" to welcome holiday-makers at the city's most popular spots.
As if to heed its call, hundreds of roller-skaters formed a giant smile in Place Vendome in the city center on Sunday.
"We have to work on striking and simple images. There's nothing as telling as a smile," said Paul Roll, who heads the tourist board.
In May, a questionnaire carried out by travel site TripAdvisor found Paris to be the most over-rated city in Europe, citing its high prices and unpleasant residents.
Daniel Fasquelle, founder of a tourism association, said that French from all walks of life needed to play their part.
"If we want tourism, which has generated more than two million jobs, to remain a major economic sector, everyone has to get behind it - professionals, elected representatives, and French people," he said.
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(Agencies)
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受金融危機和法國人不友好名聲的影響，來法游客人數有所下降，對此巴黎市旅游局向市民提出了一個簡單的要求：微笑。
巴黎是世界上接待游客人數最多的城市，但官方數據顯示今年一月份以來的游客人數比2008年同期下降了17%。
為了挽回這種不景氣的局面，增加旅游收入，巴黎市旅游局成立了“微笑大使”小組在該市著名景點歡迎游客。
好像是為了響應旅游局的號召，幾百名滾軸溜冰愛好者上周日在市中心的凡登廣場組成了一個巨大的笑臉。
巴黎市旅游局局長保羅?羅爾說：“我們必須推出醒目而簡單的宣傳形象。沒有比笑臉更生動的表現形式了。”
五月份，旅游網站TripAdvisor所做的一份調查問卷結果顯示，巴黎物價高，居民也不友善，被認為是歐洲最言過其實的城市。
一個旅游協會的創辦者丹尼爾?法斯奎爾說法國各個行業的人都應該為法國的旅游復興做出努力。
他說，“如果我們想讓已經創造了200萬個工作崗位的旅游業繼續在經濟中發揮主要作用，那么每個人都得參與進來——專業人士，推選出來的代表，還有廣大法國民眾。”
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（英語點津 陳丹妮編輯） |
