Peter Jackson column

Oct 28 2004 By Peter Jackson, The Journal

Before last weekend I was about the only person I know who hadn't been to Prague, so, I won't bore you all by telling you what a magnificent place it is.

It is no mystery why it should be popular with the British on weekend breaks, and it surely still would be even if the alcohol wasn't so cheap.

And popular it is - just about every second accent you hear in central Prague is British. I was made to feel even more at home by the prevalence of familiar brand names - Marks & Spencer, McDonalds, C&A, and Tesco.

Being in a foreign land, my thoughts turned to the decline of countries considered as brands, especially France, which, in the 1980s was way ahead of the field in popular regard. Its countryside, its cuisine, its wine and its general savoir faire were widely admired.

I was - and still largely am - a thorough-going Francophile. My first trips overseas were to France and year after year, family holidays were spent in France, in Brittany, the Dordogne, the Pyrenees, or Provence.

But, for various reasons, France has lost much of its appeal for me; nor does it seem I am alone.

Official figures released earlier this year, revealed the county suffered a loss in visitors and tourism revenues in 2003, with a fall of 2.6pc in foreign tourists.

This is not insignificant to the French economy - in that year tourism contributed some £22.7bn, down 5.4pc on the year before.

Admittedly that was a bad year for tourism everywhere with 9/11 and a weak dollar keeping the big-spending Americans at home, but even the French are beginning to realise there's more to it than that.

In the wake of the decline in tourism, a French senator, Bernard Plasait, was commissioned by the Government to look into reasons behind it.

He concluded that the French have a bad image, being seen as arrogant, refusing to speak foreign languages and generally giving the impression that people should regard it as a great honour to be allowed to visit their country. Ring any bells?

And, although France claims to be the world's number one tourist destination, with 75 million visitors in 2003, this includes millions who pass through on their way to Spain or Italy.

But the problem with the French brand is more than just perceived rudeness. French wine has long since been overtaken by New World wines, in terms of both quality and price.

French food has not moved on for 20 years and peasant and bourgeois cuisine is in serious decline. In terms of the countryside and the sea, the country faces serious competition from Spain, Italy, and the Balkans.

And having seen Prague, I can't see what Paris is for any more.