Focus on Europe | Video Podcast | Deutsche Welle

Familiar scenarios for foreign tourists in Paris: a waiter brings coffee instead of water, or a hotel clerk supposedly can't understand English. Service in France is in need of improvement. France remains a hugely popular tourist destination. Hotel bookings are decreasing year by year, however, especially in the capital Paris. Service there doesn't exactly have the best reputation, while not speaking French can also be a major problem. That's set to change. Voluntary city guides called Paris Greeters accompany small groups of tourists, showing them local life in their own parts of town. At the same time, hotel and restaurant owners in particular are resisting the newly prescribed hospitality.