A scent of disappointment floats among the capital’s hoteliers. They had imagined a fantastic year 2024; it will be good, but not better than the previous two. Three months before the start of the Olympic Games (JO) in Paris (July 26-August 11), reservations are stagnating, leading them to lower their prices.
The average room rate during this period decreased by 13% compared to January, and even by 40% if we compare with October 2023, according to figures from the Paris tourist office. Prices nevertheless remain very high, at 452 euros per night on average, all categories combined. This is twice as much as in July 2023.
The hotels are far from full. According to the MKG firm, which monitors a panel of 280 Parisian hotels, around 64% of rooms are booked during the weeks of the Games. A figure which hides disparities, between hotels 100% pre-booked by institutions and others still almost empty.
Competition from Airbnb
More worrying for the sector, the occupancy rates of Parisian hotels have fallen slightly since March. Several explanations for this phenomenon: federations, which had pre-reserved a certain number of rooms, “release” some of them as the selections of athletes take shape. In addition, both individual visitors and groups have very volatile behavior, not hesitating to cancel if they find better or cheaper elsewhere. “And then some travelers need a hotel reservation for their visa file. Once they have it, they cancel”, illustrates Adrien Gloaguen, president of the Touriste group, which brings together seven hotels in Paris.
“In total, around 30% of our reservations have been canceled in recent weeks. If this continues, it will be problematic”notes Patrick Hayat, president of the Parisian hotel group of the same name. “The international clientele of major sporting events is special. In 2016, at the time of the Euro [de football]we had a lot of unpaid bills, from groups of visitors who came from the other side of the world”he emphasizes.
In addition, hoteliers face even tougher competition from Airbnb. Many Parisians, who had never sublet their apartments, have registered on the platform in recent months. The latter estimates that it will reach the figure of 130,000 advertisements in the Paris metropolis before the summer, compared to 70,000 at the end of 2023. Starting very high, prices, here too, have fallen.
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