2023-06-15 08:00:07
They are already clearly visible, with their backpacks and rolling suitcases… In Paris and its inner suburbs, tourists have been back for several months; the numbers prove it. Between January and April, 11.6 million of these travelers were welcomed in Greater Paris. A figure up 27.2% compared to 2022, and almost equivalent to 2019 (− 2.5%), the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic. Among them, Americans are by far the most numerous (13%), ahead of the British, Germans, Italians and Brazilians.
These tourists spend, by bank card, 390 dollars (359 euros) on average during their stay, against 356 dollars before the Covid. The biggest spenders are the Americans, with 703 dollars, just ahead of the Spaniards (526 dollars), knowing that this ranking does not take cash payments into account.
The only big misses are Chinese tourists. “There is a problem of flights, prices and visas”explains Frédéric Hocquard, deputy mayor in charge of tourism and nightlife, to justify this slow return. “These Chinese tourists could probably be back at the end of the year” 2023, specifies for her part Corinne Menegaux, general manager of Paris je t’aime-Tourist Office, while the Koreans and the Japanese are beginning to make an appearance.
“Forcing the State to regulate”
In the hotel industry, the average occupancy rate in Greater Paris is 70.6%, i.e. 1.8 points less than in 2019. On the other hand, hotel prices have soared by almost 30% on average , at 188.80 euros, compared to 2019. “This increase is roughly similar in all capitals”, underlines Frédéric Hocquard, adding that he wants to encourage moderation of this surge, which is moreover before the Olympic Games are held in the summer of 2024.
“We would not want to see prices soar as has been the case during the last Pentecost weekends”, adds the elected official, while rentals of double hotel rooms have been able to go up to 300 euros, even 400 euros, per night.
To do this, the Parisian authorities say they have reached an agreement with hotel unions, such as the Union of Trades and Industries of the Hotel Industry, in order to ensure that the recommended price list is respected as well as possible. Regarding the impact of Airbnb on the market, they reiterate their desire to prevent the development of furnished tourist accommodation.
“We have lost count of the appeals and legal battles on this subject”souligne M. Hocquard. “Before, we were alone on this subject, now there is unanimity of metropolises or rural areas to force the State to regulate”, he insists. In his view, the coercive power of cities must be strengthened, as has been the case in Spain, where each municipality can take the measures that are best suited to it.
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