From January to June, tourism generated revenue of 7 billion euros, down 30% compared to the first half of 2019, according to figures published by the Paris Ile-de-France regional tourism committee (CRT).
Thus, over the first six months of 2022, tourist numbers are still down sharply compared to before Covid-19: 18.2 million tourists went to Paris and Ile-de-France, i.e. 23 % less than in the first half of 2019.
Among the latter, the number of international tourists fell by 42% to 7.4 million, due to the very gradual resumption of air traffic and the easing of health restrictions. The drop is a little less for French tourists (-22%) who were 10.8 million tourists to visit the capital and its region.
However, this represents a clear improvement compared to 2021, with 6.5 million additional French tourists and 6 million more international tourists over the first six months of the year, according to the CRT.
Summer (June to August) was much more favourable. Some 12.6 million tourists visited the capital and its region, 6% less than in summer 2019.
Among the foreigners, some even came in greater numbers than in the summer of 2019, in particular the Italians (33%), the Spaniards (8%) and the Germans (1%) in June-July according to the calculations of the organisation, based on hotel arrivals.
On the other hand, in the first half of the year, hotel arrivals of American tourists, the region’s leading international clientele, were down 24% to 949,000 compared to 2019, followed by those of the British, still down 19% to 737,000.
Next come tourists from Germany (-10% to 560,000), Spain (-13% to 468,000), Belgium (-3% to 440,000) close to the pre-pandemic level, such as Italians or Swiss (respectively -5% to 403,000 and -1% to 225,000).
The number of tourists from the Netherlands jumped 32% to 406,000, while those from Brazil rose 5% to 111,000.
Asked about the month of September, 69% of professionals considered the state of their reservations “average”, while in August 2019, they were slightly more numerous (71%) to qualify it as “good”, seeming to be cautious about their activity in the coming weeks.
