Skift Take
Paris saw a boost in domestic and international tourism for the the weeks of the Olympics Games. When taking into account the tourists that avoided the city this past summer, growth was flat compared to last year.
Luxury, boutique and other high-end hotels saw the biggest bumps in occupancy during the Olympics, according to data released Tuesday by Paris je tâaime, the city’s tourism office.
About 85.5% of high-end hotels in the Greater Paris metropolitan area were occupied between July 23 and August 6, up 16.5 percentage points over 2023. Occupancy overall was also strong during the Olympics: The rate in inner Paris was 84%, up 10.1 percentage points from last year.
Around 11.2 million visitors came to Paris to attend the Olympics or activities associated with it between July 23 and August 11, up around 4% from the same period in 2023, according to the tourism office. About 85% of all visitors were French.
About 3.1 million visitors stayed overnight, and 1.7 million were international. The U.S. was the top international source market with 230,000 visitors, followed by Germany with 130,000.
Summer Tourism in Paris Was Flat Over Last Year
While travel numbers were higher during the Games, if you factor in the entire summer, the Olympics were a drag on growth.
Many tourists avoided Paris in July and August because of the increased congestion and traffic due to the Olympics. Hotels, tour guides and the local metro system raised their rates and the local government charged higher tourist taxes.
Hotel occupancy in Paris was down from last year, according to CoStar. Over the entire summer period (July to September), Paris is expected to have 9.5 million overnight visitors, which is similar to 2023 levels, according to Paris’s tourism office.
Thanks in part to the Olympics, 2024 won’t be Paris’ best year in tourism, Corinne Menegaux, director general of Paris je tâaime, told Skift in May.
Disneyland Paris saw a drop in attendance in July and August. “Disneyland Paris has obviously felt some challenge due to the Olympics,” said Hugh F. Johnston, chief financial officer and senior executive vice president of Disney, during a quarterly earnings call last week.
Some tourism businesses told Skift they expected to see large drops in revenue for the months of July and August. âThe bookings for tours is around 25% in July and August of what it is in normal years,â said Angelo Ruggeri, manager of Private Tours Paris. âWe will lose a tremendous amount of money.â
