Although there was a noticeable increase in tourism during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the vast majority of visitors were French, according to a recent report from the French tourism agency Paris je t’Amime. Roughly 11.2 million people took part in Olympic-related activities throughout the Greater Paris area, with 85% of visitors being from the host country of France.
The breakdown shows just how local the Games were:
- 5.2 million (46%) were residents of the Île-de-France region of France
- 3 million (27%) were only day visitors who chose not to stay overnight
- 3 million (27%) stayed overnight
Among overnight visitors, 1.4 million were French tourists, a jump of 24% compared to 2023, while 1.6 million were non-French tourists, up 10% from the same time period in 2023. In total, there were about 420,000 more tourists during the Games period than the year before.
Looking at the breakdown of the foreign tourism, the top international representation for tourists included:
- 230,000 from the U.S.
- 130,000 from Germany
- 115,00 from Great Britain
- 107,000 from Brazil
- 82,000 from China
Hotels benefited most from the surge. Occupancy reached upwards of 84%, up more than ten percentage points from 2023, while room prices climbed 18%.
Landmark French attractions actually saw a lower turnout, as tourists were preoccupied by the Olympic Games:
- Louvre attendance dropped 22%.
- Musée d’Orsay fell 29%.
- Château de Versailles was down 25%.
On a global level, regional tourism was down 4.7% from July 1 to August 11 compared to the same period last summer, although activity picked up after the Paralympic Games, which sold more than 2.5 million tickets.
Fan zones, such as the Terrasse des Jeux and the Parc George-Valbon, set up across Paris were popular, welcoming 7.5 million people. The Olympic Torch Relay was another big draw, passing in front of 8 million people in over 450 French cities and towns.
The Paralympic Games welcomed 3.4 million visitors, 1.9 million of whom were tourists. Although the number of French tourists (950,000) was down slightly from 2023, the number of international visitors remained unchanged (970,000). The Paralympic torch relay was viewed by nearly 600,000 people in over 50 communities.
Ha I was there and I noticed the line for the Eiffel Tower was so short…it was an amazing experience to be there during the Olympics!
If the total increase was 420,000 and it was for the whole period July 1 ~ August 11th, I would have expected a bigger increase although I guess Paris normally draws a lot of tourist in the summer.
A lot of these tourist attractions were hard to reach or closed off during the Olympics as they were being used for Games venues or tv coverage maybe that explains the drop in numbers
Lit.
Randy