“You can’t say that I’m overwhelmed”, says, with irony, the saleswoman Assa Macalou, in her souvenir shop, rue de Rivoli, in Paris. In mid-March, the artery behind the Louvre Museum is practically deserted. Tourists are rare. In 2021, Ile-de-France welcomed half as many visitors as in 2019: 15.9 million French people and 6.7 million foreigners. The reopening of the Louvre on May 19, 2021, after five months of closure, does not change anything. The museum recorded only 2.8 million customers last year. A drop of 70% compared to 2019.
As a result, the stalls of Eiffel Tower key rings, “I love Paris” T-shirts and bags emblazoned with Mona Lisa overflow from M’s shopme Macalou. Between two stores, a currency exchange office has drawn curtains. “Right now, there are only Europeans left, and they know the Eiffel Tower well, they don’t need to buy one », details the salesman of another store, pointing to the pink, blue and gold metallic replicas of the monument. A customer enters, she is European and buys… a beret.
In a neighboring shop, another shopkeeper regrets the absence of travelers from outside Europe. “Before, there were a lot of Americans, Latinos and Asians. Now not at all. » In 2021, the number of Americans and Brazilians who came to visit the capital fell by 75% compared to 2019, specifies the regional tourism committee.
“We no longer have a Russian”
Further down the street, a salesperson comes to take the temperature at the stores he represents: “The Ukrainian conflict doesn’t help, everyone is afraid of the economic crisis it could cause. There are no buyers », he explains. Several brands are closed, such as Les Arcadiennes or Paris Souvenirs. “It is certain that at this moment our trinkets are not essential compared to gasoline or food »answers him, sullenly, one of the employees he visits.
” From now on, we no longer have a Russian. However, they represented 5% of our turnover », confides Denise Benedek, head of the Benlux duty free pharmacy for more than forty years. She consoles herself with her French clientele from ministries, embassies or the Paris airport. Rare premises that benefit from this tax refund. “A core group of consumers that allowed us to hold on. »
Nevertheless, M.me Macalou still wants to believe it: “Paris remains a reference, it is one of the most visited cities in the world. » Optimistic, she dreams of a revival thanks to the next events organized in France, such as the Rugby World Cup, in 2023, the Olympic Games, in 2024, and a potential reopening of Notre-Dame.