Following the Olympic and Paralympic Games, tourism professionals in France hope to benefit in the months and years to come from this visibility, which should not only benefit the Paris region.
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“Île-de-France must take advantage of the fantastic promotional exposure from which it has benefited: 11 million spectators came, including 4 million foreigners, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is the most watched event in the world with more than a billion viewers”, recalled Pierre-Antoine Molina, Secretary General for Public Policies Île-de-France, during a round table at the Banque de France devoted to the impact of the Games on tourism and culture.
Opening ceremonies highlighting the monuments of Paris, the Seine and its boats, competitions at the Grand Palais, the Palace of Versailles or Montmartre, the Olympic village in Seine-Saint-Denis…images highlighting the Island -de-France were not lacking during these Games.
“Despite a temporary negative impact on activity in the very short term, we believe that the Olympic Games were a great image success for Paris and the French destination in general and that there will be a trampoline effect for attractiveness of the country for at least two or three years”, estimated during an exchange with journalists Bertrand Monier, in charge of leisure and consumer services for the investment fund PAI Partners.
The first results of the summer are indeed mixed for tourism and culture professionals. “Not all the players benefited from it: if the hotels did well, for catering and taxis, it was more complicated,” summarized Vanguélis Panayotis, president of MKG Consulting during a press conference.
The Louvre saw its attendance drop by 14% during the Games, the Conciergerie by 56% and the Hôtel de la Marine by 52%, François Laurent, ministerial delegate to the Games from the Ministry of Culture, detailed to the Banque de France.
“Perhaps the immediate results are not exceptional, but what images we have had! (…) I think it will not be without impact for the future.”
François Laurent, ministerial delegate to the Games from the Ministry of Culture.
It is therefore towards the future that professionals are now turning. According to the Banque de France, in the third quarter, “the Olympics effect was significant, estimated at 0.25% of GDP, mainly derived from the sale of television rights and the sale of tickets.”
On the tourism side, “for the moment the effect is timidly positive”, according to Thomas Deschamps, director of the Paris je t’aime observatory, the capital’s tourist office, with international air reservations up 9 to 10% over the last quarter. “But we are expecting a thunderous end-of-year celebration with +15% arrivals. Americans, Canadians and British are in great demand,” he added.
“Our conviction is that 2024 will be a good year for the hotel industry, and the outlook is encouraging for 2025”
Stéphane Botz, KPMG hotel expert,
He believes that for hoteliers “the month of October is already shaping up to be exceptional”.
But the Olympic Games were not only a beautiful showcase, they were also “a vector for accelerating renovations and a trigger for patronage”, according to a representative of the Palace of Versailles, which thus restored the chariot. Apollon for 5 million euros thanks to sponsorship.
The extension of metro line 14 to Orly or the new Arena Porte de la Chapelle to the north of Paris are all long-lasting creations beneficial to tourism.
“The advantage of the Games is that a lot of things have been unlocked,” confirms Corinne Menegaux, general director of the Paris tourist office which launched its personalized experiences application, Myparisjetaime, during the Olympics. “There may be an increase in the number of visitors, and that’s very good, but the real subject is the visitor experience and opening up the territory,” according to her.