Through observations, winks and anecdotes, the Carnets de Paris immerse you in the heart of the Olympic Games.
While the stadiums were packed during the Paris Olympics, the same cannot be said of the region’s museums and other tourist attractions.
Even though the official figures have not yet been released, it already appears that attendance at the main tourist sites in Paris has suffered from the holding of the Games, whether or not they are close to the competition sites, the daily reported this week. The World.
At the Louvre, there were reports of a 20% to 30% decrease in the number of visitors compared to a normal summer, to the point where they reopened the entrance without reservation. The Orsay and Orangerie museums were reported to have roughly the same drop in attendance, while visitors to Disneyland Paris apparently never had to wait so long before the attractions.
The drop was even more pronounced for more expensive activities, such as Seine river cruises on Bateaux Mouches, where attendance is said to have dropped by half. The Moulin Rouge cabaret and the catacombs, for their part, are said to have suffered no decline.
To adapt, the Palace of Versailles adjusted its opening hours to make life easier for those who also wanted to go see the equestrian competitions. The Musée de l’Orangerie offered a discount on presentation of a competition ticket in one of the neighboring stadiums, while the Musée de l’Homme rented its terrace to France Télévision.
However, hoteliers have rarely done such good business, their turnover, during the last week of July and the first of the month, being multiplied by 2.5 compared to the same period last year, the same daily reported on Friday in another article. This is attributable to a significant increase in their occupancy rate, from around 70% to 85%, but even more to the increase in their prices which have more than doubled on average, but which have even been multiplied by three or four on the outskirts of the city center, as well as in other cities where competitions have also been held.
This increase in revenue in hotels during the weeks of the Games may not, however, be sufficient to compensate for the losses suffered so far since the start of the tourist season.
Experts call this phenomenon the crowding-out effect. The mass of visitors, both French and foreign, who came to Paris to attend the Olympic Games replaced other visitors who would normally have come to the world capital of tourism. However, these sporting visitors do not have the same interest as others, or the time, to go and see the usual tourist attractions.
So, are the Olympics good or bad for the local tourism industry? That depends on which industry you ask. It also depends, apparently, on how far you look. In London, the year after the 2012 Games was the year that they really benefited from their positive effect on the city’s reputation and popularity with tourists, industry professionals point out. If that’s true, there’s no time to lose. Book your museum tickets in Paris for the summer of… 2025.