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Nice: Tourism

Tourism in Nice began with a book written in 1765 by British writer T. Smollett, who wrote about the sunlight and warm air. Inspired by his book and articles, British visitors began to come to spend the winter along the Mediterranean. Lodging houses began to appear, but there were not many visitors because it was difficult to get there. It could take up to three weeks travel by a combination of barge, boat, and carriages to get to Nice. There were no good roads or regular vehicles from the close port Antibes, France, nor was there an easy way by sea. Arthur Young reports of having to travel by mule from Frejus to Nice in 1789. Between the French revolution and through the Napoleonic wars, there were few visitors to Nice. By 1815, British tourists began to arrive in greater numbers, more than 1000 visitors. The Grand Corniche was built by Napoleon, and wooden bridges over the Var river, made travel easier.

Promenade Anglais Today

In 1821, Charles Felix, Duke of Savoy, authorized construction of an Anglican church. In 1822 the Reverend Lewis Way raised funds from wealthy English tourists to build a walkway by the sea called the Promenade des Anglais. It became a “Place to be seen” by society, lined with gardens, lodging, guest houses. A theater was built in 1853 and a carnival became attractions of the winter season.

Tourism was first aristocratic. Nice became a second home to many European aristocrats in the 18th century, who took up winter residence along the coast in Cannes and Nice. Many had grand houses built, like those which line the Boulevard in the hills above Nice. Nice became increasingly dependent on tourism. Rich, well-educated visitors would arrive in either October or November to enjoy the winter sun and depart between March and April. In 1860, Nice formally became part of France. This would eventually lead to more economic security. By then decisions by local officials focused on the need to please demanding tourists, spending time and money on improving public health measures and on water and waste disposal.

The name 'Cote d'Azur' was used for the first time when the poet Stéphen Liégeard published a travel guide named 'Cote D'Azur' in 1887, emphasizing the blue sky and sparking ocean of Nice and the nearby ares. 'Cote D'Azur' was the term used by the French, but English visitors called the area 'The Riviera'.

Railroads were a factor shaping tourism to Nice. People used to stay at least 2 months because it took so long to arrive. Tourists would stay for the winter season and rent a villa. But with the coming of the railway, people were able to arrive quickly and stay for shorter periods, and the hotels developed to cater to this trend. Starting in 1886, the "Tran Bleu", the train running from Calais to Nice, made travel easier. The Negresco developed as first opulent hotel.

Queen Victoria visited Nice and stayed over a five year period between 1885 and 1899. She stayed at the Grand Hotel de Cimiez and then at the Excelsior Regina. Her visits helped make Nice more popular.

The decades between the late 1880's and WW1, called La Belle Epoque, was a time of relative peace and prosperity after the Franco-Prussian war. Art Nouveau and Impressionism was being created. The wealthy and the royals would display their opulence while visiting Nice. Nice developed music halls, restaurants, brasseries, and cafes lining the streets on a road extending from train station out to the sea. Nice became one of the fastest growing city in Europe at the time, growing faster than Marseille.

Nice transformed from a luxury resort and an aristocratic residential winter destination in 19^th Century to a popular resort city in the early 20th Century. By 1908, automobile use opened up other routes and countryside beyond the railway. The seaside road of Nice became an artery of traffic, as many as 1338 cars were counted in that year. All the mountain back-country side was opened up to road building, making it easy to drive into the mountains and down to Nice. By the 1930's, Nice became a summer destination for more ordinary people . By 1936, the paid vacation became a French worker’s right. French Minister LaGrange arranged cheap tickets with railroad company for working class people to the Cote D’ Azur during the summer work vacation, especially to Nice.

During the 1930’s, due to competition for tourists from Italy, Nice becoming more aggressive in marketing Nice as a place to visit during the summer. Summer on the beach was being promoted. Fashionable summer retreats were built.

After the Second World War, Nice experienced a boom in tourism similar to that of other resort towns along the Mediterranean. There was an increase in tourism jobs in the service sector, and more generally relaxed public social behavior.

During the 1950’s, another tourist boom accompanied improvements overall in the French economy, and millions of French people came to Cote D’Azur, or Riviera, during their August holidays. By the 1960’s additional auto routes were built. The Nice airport was built in the 1930's, and in the 1960's it was modernized for use for tourism. Today, it is the third busiest airport in France. Low-cost airfare, which began in 1995, along with the already well known attractions of sunshine and beaches, helped bring more tourists to Nice. Nice also has conference and convention venues that contribute towards the city's economy and social influence. Tourists were also lured by guidebooks, including "Le Guide Bleu", once widely used. Guidebooks generally provided the reader a set of expectations for particular experiences, such as sitting on picturesque, unspoiled beaches with no other people. The guides did not used to show real people living and working in Nice, but this has changed with newer guidebooks. Tourism has had both positive and negative effects on Nice. Increasing competition from other tourist destinations affects Nice, but being a destination with a long-standing attraction gives it an advantage over newer ones. The French Riviera Convention Bureau coordinates the tourist industry between cities on the Riviera and helps focus investments in tourist facilities.

Terrorism has influenced and changed tourism in Nice. The impact of the truck-attack that was deliberately driven into crowds in Nice was greater in Europe than in the United States. The attack generated chaos itself, but also severely impacted the local economy and society in the period thereafter. Fewer Europeans travel to Nice. For example, the number of airline seats sold from European cities decline by over 30%. However, seats on US-originating flights did not change, as of thirty days after the attack.

Cruise ships , carrying thousands of passengers, regularly stop in the port of Nice. At least 10 giant ships per month, between May through November, and disembark their passengers. Although the tourists generate income for the industry, they also create crowded conditions, increase unregulated water pollution, and creating other ecological problems due to the necessity of dredging the channel to accommodate the huge ships.

Climate change will likely alter where people choose to travel for leisure in the future. The Mediterranean is still a main tourist destination, especially for tourists from northern Europe, because of predictable sunshine. Higher future projected temperatures for the region may change tourism. By studying tourist temperature preferences, projected temperatures for 2035-2046 are likely to continue to be ideal for the summer in Nice, and as the area gets hotter later in this century, continue to be ideal during other months of the year.

Multi-cultural Marseille

Marseille is a city where both rich and poor neighborhoods exist, side-by-side. Although the city is not without crime, Marseille has a larger degree of multicultural tolerance. Urban geographers say the city's geography, being surrounded by mountains, helps explain why Marseille does not have the same problems as Paris. In Paris, ethnic areas are segregated and concentrated in the periphery of the city. Residents of Marseille are of diverse origins, yet appear to share a similar particular identity. An example of shared identity is seen at the public beaches, where ethnic groups sit on the sand together.   Another example is how Marseille responded in 2005, when ethnic populations living in other French cities' suburbs rioted, but Marseille remained relatively calm.

Marseille served as the European Capital of Culture for 2013 along with Košice.^[43] It was chosen to give a ‘human face’ to the European Union to celebrate cultural diversity and to increase understanding between Europeans. One of the intentions of highlighting culture is to help reposition Marseille internationally, stimulate the economy, and help to build better interconnection between groups. Marseille-Provence 2013 (MP2013) featured more than 900 cultural events held throughout Marseille and the surrounding communities. These cultural events generated more than 11 million visits.^[44] The European Capital of Culture was also the occasion to unveil more than 600 million euros in new cultural infrastructure in Marseille and its environs, including the iconic MuCEM designed by Rudy Ricciotti.

Immigration has made Marseille what it is today. Immigrants first came locally, from the greater Provence region. By the 1890's. immigrants came from other regions of France as well as Italy. Marseille became Europe’s busiest port by 1900, trading merchandise with Africa, Asia and the Americas. Marseille has served as a major port where immigrants from around the Mediterranean arrive. Marseille continues to be more multicultural. Armenians from Turkey began arriving in 1913. In the 1930s, Italians settled in Marseille. After World War II , a wave ofJewish immigrants from North Africa arrived. In 1962, when Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia became independent, French citizens from there arrived in Marseille. When most of France’s colonies gained independence in the 1960s, the city lost many jobs. Immigrants who could afford to move left and the poorest remained. For a while, the mafia appeared to run the city; then the communists became more prominent.

Multi-cultural Marseille can be observed by a visitor at the market at Noailles, also called Marché des Capucins, in old town near the Old Port. There, Lebanese bakeries, an African spice market, Chinese and Vietnamese groceries, fresh vegetables and fruit, shops selling couscous, shops selling Caribbean food are side by side with stalls selling shoes and clothing from around the Mediterranean. Nearby, people sell fresh fish and men from Tunisia drink tea.