I’m from the most visited country in the world (France) and I have never experienced the issues, seen in the news these past few days. But there is a simpler explanation than what the journalists would have you believe.

I’m French and I live in Paris. I have traveled extensively, I work in the service industry, I know how to interact with tourists and travelers. The latter have been a common sight my whole life, as France is the most visited country in the world. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with many fellow travelers, either during my vacations or during their stay in Paris. It is a fascinating subject to discuss and many have shared their experiences from around the world with me, while I do the same.<br><br>From a young (and very ignorant) age, I suppose you could say I was somewhat xenophobic. But my first long stay abroad made me realize how ridiculous the whole notion is. The only thing I regret from that period is not being braver in my interactions. Not necessarily with the locals, but rather with my fellow travelers from different horizons. Looking back, this is by far the most disappointing thing about it : not being confident enough to go talk to strangers, with their different cultures and points of views. I was 18, newly an adult, and had absolutely no notion of how to interact with my fellow human beings.<br><br>To be fair, this was not the priority, as we were staying in a small village and interacting mostly with the locals. Still, I regret not being as open and curious as I should have (and could have) been. And, even though it took a while to reach this level of consciousness and auto-critique, I have since been much more eager to interact with people visiting Paris. I have, so far, met people from Canada, the United States, Australia, the U.K., Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Cyprus, South Africa, India, China, Japan and Korea. It is always a great conversation, that I always end regretfully. In these interactions, I have mostly been met with kindness, understanding and true interest in both my culture and myself. I do believe that the key to interacting with other cultures is not to compare. There is no right or wrong, only different. That is all.<br><br>After these interactions, it is always a great disappointment to see the news. It’s been the talk of the town lately, because of events that occurred in Europe, but the subject has been discussed for a while. I see a great deal of division between the locals and the visitors, and a huge deal of generalisation : “the tourists and the locals don’t get along”, or “the French are very rude with the tourists” for example. I don’t know if it is the same in other countries, but I feel like I have to say something, because I have another point of view. The tourists are not the issue, it’s the travelers that are.<br><br>I have nothing to say on the incidents that have occurred in Spain and Italy. I wasn’t there, I don’t know exactly what happened. But in my experience, there is a huge difference between travelers and tourists. The first have traveled extensively, and know how to navigate new surroundings, be mindful of the culture, blend in the background and interact with the locals. The second are people that never really left their hometown, and have saved for years in order to travel to a country they most likely won’t visit again, at least for a long while. They don’t know the basics, and I am not talking about the language, which is acceptable. But they don’t know how to behave in shops, how to navigate the public transportation, or even the activities available in cities that are centuries old. I have, for example, met many that didn’t know how to buy train tickets for the subway, or didn’t know that the museums were closed one day of the week (it’s always Monday, c’mon guys). And I’m not even talking about the language, which is not a big deal for me, I do speak a little English.<br><br>The main issue with these people (and I have nothing against them, they are mostly middle aged with their family) is how they behave on the public transportation. Most of the time, they justdon’t care. They talk at the top of their voice, the kids scream through the train, they block the doors and corridors. They don’t let people in or out at the stations, and they don’t move to the center of the train, so that people entering the train at the next stations don’t have to push to reach an empty seat. I don’t know if they don’t know or just don’t care, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t blame them for wanting to visit a country that they may never have the chance to visit again. But I can blame the agencies, that just drop them in Paris, with no notion or advice whatsoever. We, the Parisians, have to live here. We take the train and bus every day, and we have to be careful not to miss our stops. This may be nothing for those that are only using it for a week, but the constant disruptions are a hassle for us, and, in the end, the problem is mostly between the travelers and the locals. The disruption of our daily lives, and the constant disrespect of our way of living.<br><br>In the end, I would like to reiterate that I don’t have anything against tourists. I find this concept to be ridiculous, because we are, in the end, all travelers. I don’t care that they come in big numbers to visit my city. I understand that, as the most visited country, it would be hypocritical to not want them. I know that there is a big difference between travelers and tourists though. If I didn’t, I would not have traveled at 18, with the same ignorance of the world that they have. But I do expect them to have a basic respect for my way of living, the same way that I do when I travel. It is not too much to ask for, and it would avoid a lot of the problems that have been highlighted lately.