A “restored image”, a smooth organisation and fully booked hotels. Despite the avoidance phenomenon that has affected some of them, tourism professionals are drawing a positive initial assessment of the Olympic Games and are hoping for an additional influx of benefits in the coming days. According to an initial assessment by the Paris Tourist Office published on Monday 12 August, 11.2 million visitors took part, with or without a ticket, in activities linked to the Olympic Games in the Paris region between 23 July and 11 August. With the 4 million visitors expected at the Paralympic Games (90% of whom are French), the event should therefore attract 15 million visitors.
“At the end of these two weeks, we have seen a 16% increase in overnight stays across all host cities, including 20% in Île-de-France. Attendance at museums and restaurants as well as consumption in bars was more than 25% on average in Paris and tripled in Saint-Étienne and doubled in Lille,” explained the Minister Delegate for Tourism Olivia Grégoire, in an interview with The Tribune Sunday this August 11. AirDNA, a firm that analyzes data from several platforms (Airbnb, Abritel, etc.), estimated that the occupancy rate of tourist rentals in Paris reached 62% during these Games, more than in 2023 despite the surge in the number of advertisements, with many last-minute reservations.
According to the minister, “the economic benefits will not stop there since it has been demonstrated in the past that there was a positive effect of the Olympic Games long after the event. In the end, it is estimated that they will total nine billion over fifteen years. Despite what the gloomy minds say, these Games, which cost 8.8 billion euros, largely made up of private investments, will more than cover their costs,” she said happily.
Restoration rather penalized
But not everything is so positive. “While accommodation has been able to compensate for lower attendance since June with price increases, this is not the case for catering, which has therefore been rather penalised” by the Games, qualifies the consultancy firm MKG. “The behaviour of visitors over these 15 days is absolutely not the same as normal tourist behaviour. Activities such as museum visits or catering therefore do not behave in the same way”, also explains Corinne Menegaux, general director of the Paris Tourist Office.
Visitors, who preferred on-site catering, were for example more inclined to eat on the go and spend less. But for Corinne Menegaux, this should be offset by the activity in the coming weeks: “We have arrivals starting tomorrow,” she assures, “people motivated by the atmosphere of the Games and who have seen that ultimately everything is going well.” Over the entire Games, 85% of visitors were French and 15% foreign, led by Americans, Germans and British, all more numerous than at the same period in 2023.