Kanazawa luxurious elegance

Kanazawa, the biggest city in the Hokuriku region has a
population of 450,000, and is a castle town that was ruled
over by the Maeda family for three centuries after the
first lord Toshiie Maeda entered Kanazawa Castle in 1583.

The development of its special products like rice, sake,
sweets, etc. was due to its temperate and rainy climate
with heavy snow in winter.

The city is surrounded by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National
Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. Two rivers run
through the city; the Sai is said to be a lively masculine
river and the Asano to be a sweet, feminine river. Such a
natural background of great beauty gives the city a relaxed
feeling.



Since the Kaga Clan invited many artists and craftsmen to
this area, it achieved a high level of craftsmanship that
continues to flourish to this day.

Foodopia Kanazawa is a place for people to enjoy Ishikawa's
food and the regional characteristics that have nurtured
this distinctive cuisine. It is held in winter when many
traditional delicacies are abundant and at their best.
Launched in 1985, this food festival has become a major
attraction of the Ishikawa winter. Foodopia Kanazawa
consists of a number of events spread out over a whole
month. They include the “Shoku-dan”, literally eat and
talk, in which people converse on cultural topics with
famous personalities while enjoying Ishikawa's striking
winter delicacies; and "Foodopia Land", a venue for
traditional hearths, food stalls and stage events at a park
in the heart of the city.

People enjoy their market centuries old and taste the much
controversial sushi of "Kujira".



Asadaya, an old Japanese restaurant and member of the
Association of Kanazawa city and its branch, old and new.




Asada san, my first encounter on the city, owner of
the renown Ryotei where David Rockfeller himself
stayed for a modest 2,5 million yens vintage bill.

Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery, a long-established Kanazawa sake
maker, is now brewing a novel sake aimed at helping to
revitalize the local sake industry.



A 100-year old "o-chaya" tea houses in Kazuemachi, near the
Asano river, Kanazawa, has been renovated and made into a
machiya traditional Japanese house.



At Kenrokuen Garden, the ropes tied to trees “yukitsuri”
to protect them from the snow are themselves are remarkable
sight of the Hokuriku winter. The garden is also
illuminated four times a year. Kenrokuen is especially
stunning in winter.



Located in the center of Kanazawa City, this is a museum of
contemporary arts with a circular design that generates a
uniquely free and open ambience. With its main concept of
“a museum that resembles a park in the city”.



Ishikawa rivals cities like Tokyo and Kyoto when it comes
to thriving arts and crafts. One of the Ishikawa
Prefectural Museum of Art's founding principles was to
focus on Ishikawa's own artistic creativity and it
emphasizes these regional aspects by exhibiting such
cultural properties as the treasures of Maeda Family, which
used to rule the Kaga region, presently Ishikawa
prefecture.

The city is a treasure to discover and to enjoy with
old architecture as the restaurant and museum of
an art collector where I had and excellent diner
and discovered a Chinese poem written by a
painter with lilliputian ideograms in a centuries
old ceramic cup.



A report introduced thanks to Foreign Press Center and the
Prefecture of Ishikawa. Warmest appreciation.

"A qui profite le Kim…?

"A qui profite le Kim…?" c'est un documentaire sur la Corée du nord rediffusé sur une grande chaîne de TV française, et cela donne de l'urticaire sur le web (Bakchich notamment). Je ne comprends pas en quoi consiste le dezinguage d'une rediff sauf quand on commence a lire les commentaires sur ce cas-la... Bref, en effet, bien souvent, merci Internet et les blogs car des journalistes avec de grands effets de manches se lancent, parfois malgré eux, dans des projets tirés a la ligne ou repompés sur d'autres collègues et ca fait peau de chagrin. La rediffusion cache aussi un manque de rigueur, de mise a jour, de connaissances, et de moyens.*

Or, le plus bête dans cette histoire exposée brièvement par Bakchich, c'est que l'on ne s'est pas interrogé sur l'essentiel du sujet: La Corée du Nord depuis l'automne 2008.

Sur la Corée du Nord (DPRK en anglais), on a bien été au coeur d une sérieuse manipulation ces derniers mois. Des medias d'agences ou des quotidiens (ex: Daily Telegraph, London Times) ont parlé tour a tour de la grave maladie puis de la mort du dirigeant Kim Jong Il (le fils de Kim Il Sung mort en 1994), ou prétextant que le Kim était remplacé par une ou plusieurs doublures (pratiques courantes dit-on) ou qu'il avait été assassiné ou qu'un règlement de compte était en cours a Pyongyang, qu'un triumvirat était aux affaires, que l'une des maîtresses, des soeurs, et ensuite l'un des fils de Kim Jong Il étaient adoubés etc... Les bookmakers pariaient sur sa mort a tous les coups.

Jusqu'au jour ou un dirigeant chinois de haut vol est allé se faire photographier récemment a Pyongyang avec le "Cher Leader". Coucou le revoila le Kim Jong Il, sorti de son bunker.


Kim Jong Il dans sa vareuse et Wang Jiarui, dirigeant du Département International du PCC, le 22 janvier 2009 a Pyongyang (Xinhua courtesy)

Tout est possible dans ce pays en marge. Et plutôt que de jouer les héros, ce qui aurait été intéressant aurait été de savoir ce a quoi la Corée du Nord a échappé ces derniers temps et ce qui a été fait pour la "diminuer", la "Gazater" ou la maquiller?

A-t-elle risqué un scénario Irakien dans les derniers mois de Bush? Y a-t-il eu une tentative asiatique de régler son cas en douceur au régime "Stalinien"? Et aujourd hui, Obama va t il poursuivre le travail de Bill Clinton et Madeleine Allbright, inscrivant une action diplomatique a 180 degrés de celle dévastatrice des Bush père et fils? Evidemment les réponses sont a Pekin a Seoul et Tokyo. Pyongyang sort deja ses fusées Taepodong lit-on ce soir dans les journaux de Tokyo. Vrai ou faux? Effet levier?

Quant aux élucubrations en rafales entendues vues et lues sur l'impossibilité ou les "risques gigantesques" d'entrer en Corée du Nord? Foutaises! Je citerai le cas d'un ami journaliste photographe et écrivain Italien qui est entré en Corée du Nord le plus simplement du monde... sans visa ni parrainage, simplement en franchissant la frontière Chinoise. Il lui est ensuite arrivé une aventure extra-ordinaire. Ce collègue n'est autre qu'Antonio Pagnotta, célébrité en Asie pour ses "scoops". Ces temps-ci de passage en France pour ceux et celles que cela intéresse. Lui n'a jamais eu besoin de "bidonner" ou repiquer dans le travail des confrères et consoeurs pour sortir ses exclusivités, et je lui tire mon chapeau (fait rare).

* Travaillant avec la TV japonaise et des boites de prod, j'ai souvent eu l occasion ici et la de rappeler les moyens impressionnants dont dispose la TV japonaise par tous temps et toutes crises, surtout en crise, pour faire son boulot et surtout pour donner des faits bruts au lieu de déjanter dans le genre des commentaires de cafe du commerce.

http://www.bakchich.info/article3653.html

Imagine how to kick the crisis out...

A Tokyo University professor who heads a government panel that dates the economic cycle, Professor Hiroshi Yoshikawa of the University of Tokyo, is working nowadays on how to fight the global economic crisis by elaborating new incentives for consumption and tries to find new ways to maintain a more sustainable economy. I met him recently at a briefing and study meeting thanks to the FOREIGN PRESS CENTER in Tokyo.

He said that "Japan's present recession may become the longest in the postwar era, we had better get ready for a 3 year recession as the decline will be very severe, not only in terms of duration but also depth."

How to fight back? Japan's true resources are in its domestic markets. The country has enormous capital reserves, which are well hidden under mattresses or in bank accounts. "To get those out, the country would have to tackle large-scale structural reforms", dpa agency wrote.

Easier to say than to do? Structural reform led by what philosophy? How? Japan GDP equals the Gargantuesque amount of 500 TRILLION YEN! But Japan's debt equals 700 TRILLION YEN, 150% of GDP, Yoshikawa said. Japan appears as a Mediterranean nation in term of healthy economy and would not fit in the Maastricht criteria, set at 60% of debt versus GDP.

When the crisis looks like the "villain" Sephiroth, he is regularly featured in top positions on many "best villain" lists and character polls assembled by game publications and fans, Sephiroth is well known for his attempts to become a god by absorbing the planet's energy. It is a character designed by Tetsuya Nomura.

Then imagine how to kick the crisis out...

"My Job at the Government is to think and find how one could boost consumerism in Japan" Professor Hiroshi Yoshikawa answered. He added to my question regarding the effect of a consumption tax plan that "it would benefit to the social security service."

Imposing increased VAT, while the world's finances were in turmoil, had tough consequences in the past. Here, various methods and ways are considered, one of them in delivering messages to the people, corporations, small and medium industries, local communities:

How to tax some economical entity and citizens' actions while alleging burden on others, local communities, weak entities and socially held vulnerable by the crisis? Failing to analyze the crisis impact, the ruling LDP is threatened, alarming media say, to loose its powerful hand on the archipelago's affairs and let an unprepared opposition, the petulant Democratic party of Japan, take power of Nagatacho, the political hotbed of politics.

Some critics say Japan could very well imagine how to tax excess consumption and we hear serious voices nowadays who favor a more sustainable consumption advantaging green economy and inland solutions, giving a pause to massive globalization.

Conveniences stores killing cities "chome" (local) small shops would be an easy target for being imposed heavier taxes. Takkyubin companies spending lots of fuels energies should be advised to shift to nature friendly delivery cars, otherwise taxed! -I just checked prodigious hybrid and electric cars Prius, iMiEV, Pivo-. Industries cheating customers and nature, taxed. Cities buildings illuminated all night, taxed etc...

Reporting all around Japan the whole year and visiting extraordinary scientists and sociologists, I have a clearer idea of what can be done by Mr Yoshikawa's panel to develop communities by advocating a better, healthier, advanced life style. Critics (still) say Japan's best commitment to the international society is not to play the "va-t-en-guerre" (war addicted) but could become a model laboratory, thanks to its high-technologies synergies that are still sleeping in Labs' desks.

Yes indeed, if not, what an awful waste of energy!

Presse et crise

(Courtesy picture)

BBC World, Davos, dans une séance de lamentation et d'auto flagellation télévisée:

- Jakob Frenkel vice-chairman de AIG: "Je ne crois pas que les membres du conseil d'administration étaient capables de comprendre ce qui se passait".

- Laura Tyson, membre du conseil d'administration de Lehman Brothers: "Les membres des conseils d'administration (les Board members) ne pouvaient pas avoir les informations nécessaires pour déterminer que le système en était arrivé a ce point-la".

N'importe quoi.

Je zappe sur Youtube...

Taro in Davos

Taro in Davos Update 1

Taro Aso will announce a multi-billion-dollar aid package for Asian countries in a speech Saturday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, reports said. The three-year package from April 2009, worth 1.5 trillion yen (16.5 billion dollars), would be aimed at boosting the Asian economy through development programmes, including infrastructure projects, Jiji Press and other local media reported, without citing sources.

As one commentator alluded:

"Aso Taro promising to do his all to help save the global economy? After only four months in office, the dude cannot save his Cabinet."

Prime Minister Taro Aso will make a three-day visit to Switzerland from Friday to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the resort town of Davos, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Thursday. Aso is scheduled to deliver an address Saturday on Japan's responses to the global economic crisis and climate change...

Prime Minister Taro Aso indicated Thursday that he intends to call an election "at an appropriate time" as his efforts to safeguard the nation's economy from the global economic crisis have started to take shape. "I have put all my efforts into compiling economic measures and budgets to finance steps to protect employment and the livelihood of the people from an unprecedented global financial crisis," Aso told a House of Representatives plenary session. "Therefore, I will seek a public mandate at an appropriate time after clarifying what the issues will be," the 68-year-old Japanese leader said.

Aso was responding to questions from Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, who urged the prime minister to dissolve the lower house for an election as quickly as possible. In his first press conference this year on Jan. 4, Aso said his priority was to revive the recession hit economy and that he would not consider calling an election until the Diet passes the fiscal 2009 budget and related bills.

Toyota: Numéro 1 par avis de vent fort sur l'industrie automobile!

Toyota, le premier constructeur mondial, renoue avec les traditions dynastiques: Akio Toyoda, le petit-fils du fondateur du groupe a pris la tête de la firme, au beau milieu de ce désordre économique mondial. Une nomination perçue comme un moyen de souder l'entreprise autour d'un symbole fort face à l'adversité. Il remplacera en juin l'actuel PDG Katsuaki Watanabe, transféré au poste honorifique de vice-président du conseil d'administration.

Akio Toyoda, ancien "Director of Toyota Motor Europe", était considéré depuis des années comme l'héritier de l'empire Toyota. Mais la rapidité de son accession au pouvoir a surpris. Lorsque je l'ai rencontré, lors de la sortie d'un modèle "hybride" de la firme de Aichi, il me répondait avec modestie sur sa destinée au sein du groupe. Modestie mais surtout avec silence. Ni oui ni non. La décision était une question de conjoncture. Le recours aux dynasties des groupes japonais est-elle un signe que les Toyoda et consorts jouent le "branding" à tout va, si cher à Naomi Klein en période de reconfiguration de l'industrie et de l'économie mondiale?

Pour l'heure, GM pique du nez! Le groupe américain General Motors a annoncé avoir vendu 8,35 millions de véhicules dans le monde en 2008, laissant ainsi la couronne de premier constructeur mondial à son rival japonais Toyota, qui en a commercialisé 8,97 millions. Les ventes du numéro un américain ont reculé de 11% durant l'année, «reflétant des pressions économiques mondiales, notamment un resserrement du crédit, la chute du prix des matières premières et l'absence de croissance».

Quand Tokyo s'enrhume, Mickey éternue!

Tokyo Disneyland, le Château de Cendrillon... en panne.


C'est la crise? Mickey est-il a son tour victime des tourments financiers ou est-ce un simple incident technique? Mystère sur Disneyland... J'ai souvent apprécié les dessins animés et films de Disney, et je suis allé assister a l'un des événements ouverts auxquels la presse était invitée sur le site de Tokyo Disneyland, 25e anniversaire.

Tout allait bien ce matin, et le spectacle "Dreams Within" commençait comme prévu a 12:30. Et tout d'un coup, un Goofy sommeillait-il ou quoi? Un haut-parleur annonce en japonais et en anglais que le spectacle est "interrompu" a la grande tristesse des spectateurs, des enfants, et provoquant une certaine stupéfaction des médias japonais, TV en tête. "Je n'y comprends rien" me dit mon collègue de la TV japonaise.

Le parc d'attraction est pourtant un monument de fête et de découverte, une enclave dans le monde de Walt Disney revu et corrigé par les marketing managers associés de Oriental Land dont je connais l'un des ex responsables et fondateurs qui a créé le Disneyland.

Non loin, DisneySea est "encore mieux" aux dires des visiteurs séduits par la magie du site dédié aux héros d'aventures multiples, jungle et désert, montagnes fumantes et pyramides aztèques a deux pas d'un milieu aquatique des films de Disney, gondoles de Venise compris... le tout abrité naturellement en baie de Tokyo.



S'y côtoient le Nautilus de Nemo, Des bateaux de pêches et des galions et autres bateaux de corsaires, un paquebot digne des grandes traversées Asie Europe, transatlantiques, et des vaisseaux "high-tech" pour vivre les sensations ressenties "dans l'oeil des typhons", cela tout proche des shows produisants de véritables artistes de haut vol, et puis, toujours, cette magie des aventures de Sinbad, du Captain Hook, et du dernier film des aventures de Indiana Jones.



Et a DisneySea relié a Disneyland par un chemin de fer, il n'y avait aucune interruption du show ce jour-la! Impression donc de quelque chose de cassé, même chez Mickey et Cendrillon. Triste ou tournons la page. A n'en pas douter, il faudra plus d'un magiciens pour régler son compte a ces quelques pirates qui naviguent sur les eaux dangereuses de nos espaces économiques et industriels. Ces drôles de types qui prennent d'assaut des pans entiers de richesses nées du travail et de l'imagination productive.

Ishihara Shintaro, a writer, a politician and a "legit" bull!

Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara (R) and his colleague from Niigata, Hirohiko Izumida, listening to my question:

A full hand of curious watchers! When I arrived at the press conference at my club, there was a crowd of TVs' and microphones, photojournalists and pen writers. The attention focussed on the group of men sat on stage for what was supposed to be an outspoken event on the theme of Japanese "abductees". The people kidnapped by North Korea in the 70's from the costal area of Japan by what the Japanese press call "North Korean spies".

Spies? To kidnap Japanese from the coast? But why? To "teach North Koreans about Japanese language and customs." Excuse me if I miss something here.

But is it conceivable when one knows that hundreds of Japanese, some former Niigata residents, Koreans included, came back to North Korea answering to the call of the Pyongyang Staliniens in the same post war period? True or false? True! North Korea is reported to have confess the fact. Kim Jong Il himself pronounced the words to ex Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who tried in the early 2000s' to ask for their liberation. Something that did not get the approval of the US at that time. One sinister story among others is the Megumi Yokota case. A child who is said to have been kidnapped in her teens, one day on her way back home at Niigata city. Her nightmare and the hell for her parents who since then claim the case for decades. Some say, Megumi might have died in North Korea.

Therefore, needless to say that attention was hot on that Tuesday at the press club to hear the Governors whose target was to focus on US Obama elected president on this "Abductees" issue. The star of the day being the very harsh and witted Ishihara Shintaro, Governor of Tokyo. And who knows, maybe the most influential and popular politician of the Japanese right wing. Could get a seat at the top of LDP, "but I am too old for that" he said in the past. Well, who knows if he does not own the keys of the Nagatacho political game...?

Whatever. After the presentation of the conference and their speeches, when the Q&A time came. A loud silence was heard. Lots of people seemed to be rebutted by Tokyo's governor Shintaro Ishihara presence. Reason is that he is known to answer very harshly to journalists.

No surprise! Just a few rare hands including mine were raised to confront Shintaro Ishihara, like an oral contest event. When my turn to ask came, I expressed my surprise to the Governors and especially to Governor Ishihara Shintaro to see that Japan's Constitution or supreme laws do not even have the slightest concept of emergency should the archipelago be victim of an inner or outside threat, a pandemic or a war. Therefore any action Japan could undertake to protect herself is pure wishful thinking.

And this is when all started: Tokyo 's Governor launched his favorite rhetoric: Brilliantly and endlessly.

"I think China's integration of North Korea would be the easiest solution, even for the United States. I suspect an underlying motive along this line already exists," Ishihara told me. "I wouldn't imagine that China would refuse the idea."

Ishihara acknowledged that the idea would "probably" meet opposition in South Korea, which maintains hope of reunification with its communist neighbor after six decades divided by the Cold War's last frontier.

Ishihara often provoked anger and controversy with hawkish remarks, and said that "the six-way talks spearheaded by the United States had made little progress in ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive or integrating it into the world."

This is a complicated issue because Koreans historically fought Chinese influence over the peninsula. Both Seoul and Pyongyang were angered several years ago when Beijing appeared to deny that parts of northeastern China were originally a Korean kingdom.

But Ishihara said that Seoul would benefit if North Korea became part of China. "If South Korea agrees to the idea, I think that country (North Korea) would collapse naturally and it would bring back a civil society instead of just dictatorship."

Here it was at that moment! I got my news all right on the record! It became a headline all around the world and Pyongyang reacted violently with a Dinosauric answer about Japanese society.

Ishihara and the governors said they would lobby the Japanese government to do more to break a deadlock in a North Korean plan to reinvestigate the kidnappings. Here it was. Ishihara, aged: 76, acclaimed novelist turned popular three-term governor of the world's biggest city, certainly get accustomed to confront the press since he wrote a famous book with Sony president Morita in the 90's about a Japan who can say No!

When Japan buys global investment banks...

With the financial crisis in every eye, Japan spreads its financial power around the world. Difficult to evaluate the future strength that Japan is to use for its global financial dominance, but under Shoichi Nakagawa, the Minister of Finance, "Tokyo lost its low profile held since the late 90's and enter into a centripetal motion which will change the archipelago more than it ever did under Junichiro Koizumi", one can hear in Nagatacho (Diet of Japan)

Who ever gets the next Prime Minister Chair...?

After the first analysis made in autumn, based on summaries presented since 2007 according to my own sources, Japan’s biggest financial firms are seeking to expand abroad after buying stakes last year in overseas banks and brokerages that were forced to raise capital after posting losses related to the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the largest Japanese bank, bought a $9 billion stake in Morgan Stanley. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the second-biggest lender by revenue, invested $1.2 billion in Merrill Lynch & Co. last January.

How interesting this document in two part about how Mitsubishi UFJ Bank bailed out Morgan Stanley. It is on the Mainichi shimbun site. Bi lingual English and Japanese.
Worth reading the process of the negotiations.

三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループ（三菱ＵＦＪ）から米金融大手モルガン・スタンレーへの約９０億ドル（当時約９０００億円）出資。「１００年に１度」の金融危機で崩壊寸前の市場を支えた昨年１０月１３日の巨額資本提携の陰には、日米両政府の緊密な関与があった。ビジネスの論理を超えて同盟の経済安全保障が発動された緊迫の舞台裏を明かす。【後藤逸郎、井出晋平

On Oct. 13, 2008, an approximately 9-billion dollar investment deal by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's (MUFG) in U.S. financial giant Morgan Stanley came into effect. But behind this arrangement -- which helped bolster a market nearing collapse from a once-in-a-century financial crisis -- was an unprecedented level of involvement of the Japanese and U.S. governments.

In the following the interaction of both corporations with both different corporation cultures... until the clash comes, critics say.

"The U.S. government, in cooperation with the Japanese government, worked furiously from the close of the G7 meeting on Oct. 10, 2008 to the morning of Oct. 13, in order to secure vast sums of investments from Japanese banks to shore up the global financial system. For some time previously, however, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) had already been pushing for increased foreign investment in the U.S. financial sector."

Click the title to read the series.

France branded as "No.1 tourism destination"

Mont Saint Michel under a golden sun. The Mount was edified in the 8th century, Normandie, France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint_Michel

Straight in my eyes, a Japanese academic, a friend of mine, tells me: "Jean-Yves Le Drian does not know his classics!" "Le Couesnon dans sa folie a mis le Mont en Normandie" (The Couesnon river in its frenzy put the Mount in Normandy) as shown in this image of the Tapestry of Bayeux:


The Tapestry of Bayeux by Queen Mathilde of England (11th Century), illustrating the Couesnon river

Nevertheless, my scholar's friend adds that the sympathetic president of the regional council of Brittany "takes his dreams for reality, the Mount Saint Michel will be an island, and not belong to neighboring Brittany" according to environmental work undertaken since 2005 to renew the site, impaired by alluvial land and sand accumulated for centuries, and re create the Mount as an Island by 2015.

This regional pride contest is an old story, as old as the Mount itself. Mount Saint Michel is a "temoignage" of the regional patterns and varieties of France. (Something Japanese understand pretty well regarding geographical competition and pride) This heritage of my country's history also is a symbol of impressive Christian architecture. Still Monsieur Le Driand words shared with a little group of French journalists Correspondents in Tokyo recently did not cause a big surprise for the people of Normandie. We all know The Mont is to become an island and a protected area. Protected for neighbors and tourists who flock to this impressive testimony of this legendary and strategical territory and "élégante silhouette" known by every Japanese.

Normandie, elevated in history with the arrival of Northmen. Vikings raided west of France for decades before to settle down after France crown signed Traité of St Clair sur Epte in 911 between King Charles III and Northman Rollon.

Normandie highlighted in history by the conquest of England by the Duke William The Conqueror of Normandie whose castles in Caen and Falaise illustrate the "Donjon feudalistic architecture" (It reminds me of the Gusuku castles of Okinawa Unesco registered).

Normandie, the land of 1944 D-Day, of the Monet's impressionist painter, land of authors Corneille, Guy de Maupassant, Marcel Proust, Flaubert and Chateaubriand, André Gide, Alphonse Allais.

All guests and inhabitants appreciate Normandie's long history, culture, tradition, gastronomy and scenery. I recall numerous conversations with Japanese journalists happy to spend time, vacations or life, in the region located less than two hours drive west from Paris.



The point here is that France is the top world destination for tourism!

With the opulent French Riviera, iconic Eiffel Tower, Mont Saint-Michel, Alps, Pyrenees and 90 other wonderful regions districts and counties, blended with a unique history, (and luscious vineyards) France stands tall and proud as the world’s No. 1 travel destination. This is the fact.

To capitalize on this noble and strong heritage, France launched a campaign to “re-brand” France, a place already considered a dreamland by would-be travelers across the globe.

According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, 82 million visitors traveled to France in 2007, an increase of 3 million from the year before and well ahead of No. 2 Spain and No. 3 the United States, who welcomed 58 million and 51 million visitors respectively.

The French government unveiled a new French “brand” last month, including a logo and travel campaign aimed at rejuvenating tourism revenue.

The logo features a young woman symbolizing Marianne, an allegorical figure and national symbol since the French Revolution, as she looks toward the future. The dreamy tag-line, “Rendez-vous en France,” is designed to seduce visitors to the land of fashion, food and fine wine.

Marianne invokes what the tourism authority, the Maison de la France, labels the traits that make France unique: adventure and spontaneity, a rich history, and of course, romance.

Determined to support the renewal of the French tourism industry, France’s number one economic sector, Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment initiated earlier this year a strategic plan known as “Destination France 2020,” with the goal of increasing revenue and creating jobs.




The plan focuses on three objectives:

- Attracting a new clientele from emerging countries to all regions of France
The plan suggests faster visa processing for many countries; increasing low-cost airline service; more specialized training; youth and work exchange programs and more flexible work laws including seasonal employment.

- Updating the tourist product to respond to new expectations
Actions include a study to develop B-to-B marketing; a restructuring of the hotel classification system including the addition of 5-star level and financial loans for hotel improvements.

- Promotion of the new France brand
The France brand has been created to enrich and renew its image and to give a new meaning to “France.” Its objective is to establish a strong, united visual identity that can be used throughout the industry and to standardize the image of France worldwide. Represented by a new logo and tag-line, the brand will portray the importance of hospitality in France, and highlight the quality and distinct traits of the destination.