This Europe: Iron Lady celebrates a towering success

The writer Guy de Maupassant called it a "disgraceful, gigantic skeleton" when it was built in 1889. He called for a popular riot to pull it down and save the reputation of "our generation". The Eiffel Tower, which has long been the most popular paying tourist attraction in the world, celebrated its 200 millionth visitor yesterday.

Its rising popularity is a testament to the explosion of the global tourist industry. It took 94 years to record its first 100 million visitors. It needed only 19 years to reach its second 100 million.

Although the milestone was passed in the summer, the tower's management waited until yesterday to throw a party for hoteliers and tour operators.

The Paris town hall, which owns the tower, has also announced that the Dame de Fer (Iron Lady) is to be given a new, more permanent lights display next year. As part of the millennium celebrations, the Eiffel Tower was studded with tiny lights that shimmered for a few minutes every hour after nightfall.

The lights lasted for only a few months but proved so popular that they are to be replaced, at a cost of €4.5m (£3m) by a more permanent display, which should be ready next June and last for 10 years. Plans are also well advanced to copy the success of the new underground entrance to the Louvre by scooping out the ground beneath the tower to provide new entrances, a restaurant and a museum.

The tower was built by the engineer Gustave Eiffel for the international exhibition of 1889 to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. It was intended to be dismantled after 20 years.

The 200 millionth visitor probably passed through the turnstiles years ago. In February, the tower's management uncovered a fraud operated by ticket sellers over several years. By simulating breakdowns of the computerised till system, they pocketed the proceeds from tens of thousands of visits.