Popular enthusiasm for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has confounded the most pessimistic predictions, except for the drop in attendance at Parisian museums in July and August: − 14% at the Louvre, − 28% at the Centre Pompidou, − 26% at Orsay… Located in the Olympic perimeter of the Concorde, the Hôtel de la Marine even saw a 50% drop. Only two sites have resisted the general decline: the catacombs, which were full with 53,000 visitors in July and August – a figure identical to 2023 –, and the Saint-Denis Basilica (Seine-Saint-Denis), where the Olympic flame finished its journey on Friday, July 26. Attendance there jumped by 50%, a first.
Read the story: Parisian museums report sharp drop in attendance during Olympics
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However, there is no question of tarnishing the precious – and fragile – moment of collective happiness prolonged by the Paralympic Games. “This is not an irreversible decline, but a cyclical one, and let us remember that 2023 was an exceptional year”puts into perspective Sylvain Amic, president of the Musée d’Orsay.
The same philosophy applies at the Château de Versailles, which is still requisitioned by the Paralympics, and which saw its admissions drop by 25% during the Olympic fortnight and by 16% overall in July and August. “But it’s taken off again.”positively its president, Christophe Leribault. Visitors also returned to the Orangerie as soon as the Olympic Games were over. “With an above-normal peak of 3,916 visitors on August 12”says its director, Claire Bernardi.
A much younger audience
Everywhere, another audience has replaced the usual cultural tourists. A much younger audience, according to a survey conducted this summer at the Carnavalet Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Petit Palais, the Palais Galliera and the archaeological crypt on the Île de la Cité. “Something unique happened with a joyful, light, positive audience”insists Annick Lemoine, director of the Petit Palais, where the over-60s only represented 8% of visitors, compared to 20% in the first half of the year.
Read the report: Article reserved for our subscribers During the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, BPCE will host at the Petit Palais
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At the Army Museum, located at Les Invalides, the number of visitors dropped by 24% during the Olympic Games. But the exhibition “Duels. The Art of Combat”, which ended on Sunday, August 18, found its audience, “with 600 visitors per day – compared to an average of 400 usually – the day after the fencing events at the Grand Palais”says its conservation director, Sylvie Leluc.
Read the review: Article reserved for our subscribers The Army Museum traces the history of the duel
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Encouraged by the recovery observed since the end of August, the institutions are also hoping to get back on their feet this fall. Key exhibitions, such as “Surrealism” at the Centre Pompidou, “Caillebotte. Painting Men” at the Musée d’Orsay or the extensive collection of the dealer Heinz Berggruen (1914-2007) at the Orangerie should heat up the ticket office. “A new cultural tourism will be born from the imagination that emanated from the Olympic Games”predicts Anne-Sophie de Gasquet, president of Paris Musées, which oversees fourteen Parisian establishments.
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