A majority of Ile-de-France residents will stay in Ile-de-France during the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11) and Paralympic Games (August 28-September 8), and 33% of them even intend to “enjoy the event”, according to the Minister Delegate in charge of Tourism Olivia Grégoire.
“The Paris tourist and convention office is counting on 16.1 million cumulative visitors to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games with a strong majority of nationals (89% of expected visitors) and in particular Ile-de-France residents who, for the most part, are “among them, they intend to stay,” the minister declared in a telephone interview with the press.
According to a survey carried out by Harris for Atout France among 1,000 people, “69% of Ile-de-France residents plan to stay in Ile-de-France” during the Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11) and Paralympic Games (August 28 – September 8), said Olivia Grégoire. Among them, “33% say they want to take advantage of the event,” she added.
The ministry was unable to specify whether these 69% only concerned Ile-de-France residents on vacation during this period or also included Ile-de-France residents forced to stay to work.
The number of tourists during this period should be “up to 10% higher” compared to that of 2019, before the pandemic.
On the price side, “to date we have noticed a decline in prices and regulation whether at the level of traditional hotels or in the furnished rental sector,” according to the minister’s office.
The prices of rentals from individual to individual have, however, doubled compared to the same period in 2023, Caroline Leboucher, general director of Atout France, said during this telephone interview.
The minister welcomed “the prospects for the Olympic and Paralympic Games which are exciting, whatever some angry people may say.” “The people of Ile-de-France want to stay and I have no doubt that the state of mind of our professionals and our natives in terms of welcome and hospitality will make the Olympic and Paralympic Games a great success,” she said.
Olivia Grégoire also took stock of the winter season “which is holding up” with a mountain sector “whose attractiveness is confirmed”, with “an increase in the occupancy rate of 3.5% compared to the last season.
“It is the highest massifs which have benefited from the increase in attendance,” she underlined. The occupancy rate is down 3% in the Pyrenees.
This general increase is “driven in particular by international attendance, up 13%”, in particular thanks to Belgian and British tourists “who have returned massively to the Alps”, according to Atout France.
