On tourism, Paris is taking on new colors and even turning the page on Covid-19. Attendance in the capital in the first quarter is approaching the level of 2019 with average spending by international tourists higher than the pre-pandemic period, tourism assistant Frédéric Hocquard announced on Wednesday.
Some 11.6 million tourists were welcomed in Greater Paris between January and April 2023, an increase of 27.2% compared to 2022 and a decrease of only 2.5% compared to 2019. For the year 2023, attendance could exceed 37 million tourists, compared to 38.5 million in 2019.
Foreigners are mostly Americans and British
More than half of the tourists are of French nationality (53.3%), a distribution almost similar to before covid. The most represented foreign tourists come from the United States and the United Kingdom (7.0%) and to a lesser extent from Germany, Italy and Brazil.
“There are changes, China but also Korea or Japan are very little present, but despite this we find attendance similar to 2019 with an increase in European countries such as Spain, Italy, Portugal or Portugal. ‘Austria’, said Frédéric Hocquard.
An average of 189 euros per night
Average spending by international tourists also exceeded 2019 levels, with the United States leading the way, followed by Spain. The share of business overnight stays has also almost returned to its pre-crisis level, as have hotel occupancy rates. “The indicators are really green,” said Corinne Menegaux, director general of the Paris Tourist Office.
The only downside is that prices have increased by 28% in four years in Paris, with an average of 189 euros per night. “There is the inflation effect but we see that this increase is similar in all capitals,” said Corinne Menegaux, who does not, however, foresee an explosion in prices during the Olympic Games. “The Olympics, there are plenty of tourists who come, but there are also plenty who do not come. We are not expecting to double our number of tourists in Paris”, added Frédéric Hoquard, specifying however that controls will be reinforced on furnished tourist accommodation such as Airbnb.
As part of its Climate Plan, the City of Paris is also working to reduce the carbon footprint of the tourism sector, which represents 10% of Ile-de-France’s GDP, by focusing in particular on reducing plastic single use and on the development of cycle tourism.