The Olympics Games in Paris led to a boost in both domestic and international tourism during the weeks of the event. However, when considering tourists who avoided the city due to increased congestion and higher rates, overall growth was flat compared to the previous year. Luxury, boutique, and other high-end hotels experienced the greatest increase in occupancy during the Olympics, with about 85.5% of these hotels in the Greater Paris metropolitan area being occupied between July 23 and August 6, representing a 16.5 percentage point increase from 2023. Overall, hotel occupancy in inner Paris was also strong at 84%, up 10.1 percentage points from the previous year.
During the Olympics, approximately 11.2 million visitors came to Paris between July 23 and August 11, which was a 4% increase from the same period in 2023. The majority of these visitors, around 85%, were French, with about 3.1 million staying overnight and 1.7 million of them being international tourists. The United States was the top international source market with 230,000 visitors, followed by Germany with 130,000. However, even with the increase in visitors during the Games, when taking into account the entirety of the summer season, the Olympics actually had a negative impact on tourism growth in Paris due to tourists avoiding the city in July and August.
Hotel occupancy in Paris saw a decrease from the previous year, and over the entire summer period from July to September, the city is expected to have 9.5 million overnight visitors, similar to 2023 levels. The increase in rates by hotels, tour guides, and the local metro system, as well as higher tourist taxes imposed by the local government, may have contributed to the decrease in tourism during the summer months. As a result, 2024 is not expected to be Paris’ best year for tourism, as stated by Corinne Menegaux, director general of Paris je t’aime in May. Even Disneyland Paris saw a drop in attendance during July and August, with Chief Financial Officer and Senior Executive Vice President of Disney, Hugh F. Johnston, attributing the decline to the Olympics impacting tourism in the city.
Some tourism businesses in Paris anticipated a significant drop in revenue for the months of July and August as a result of the Olympics. Bookings for tours were around 25% of what they would normally be during a typical year, according to Angelo Ruggeri, manager of Private Tours Paris. This meant that businesses like his would experience a substantial loss of income during the summer months. Despite the increase in tourism during the Olympics, the overall impact on the summer tourism season in Paris was not as positive as expected, with businesses and attractions experiencing varying degrees of challenges and setbacks during the period.
