2024-09-15 15:43:35
Parisian businessmen and hotel managers envisioned a summer unlike any they had ever experienced: millions of tourists would flood the French capital during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, bringing huge profits to the region. However, after the Games, many say they experienced one of the worst summers ever, particularly due to security restrictions around the Olympic venues in the city centre.
However, Tom Denaive, who runs a jewelery shop between the Louvre and Concord Square, where several races have been held, said the period could not be described as anything other than dramatic. In mid-June, the nearest metro station was closed, and a week before the opening ceremony, Rivoli Street, the main pedestrian area and commercial thoroughfare, was also closed. “It was a dead end,” says Denaive. “It felt like we were back in the days of covid-19,” he adds.
Even the Louvre museum saw a drop in attendance. By 45 percent two weeks before the opening ceremony and by 22 percent at the time of the Olympics, compared to the same period last year.
Disappointment was also felt on rue Saint-Honoré, where the most prestigious Parisian hotels and haute couture shops are located. Marina Orlando, manager of the French luxury candle brand Diptyque, says sales in August fell by 29 percent year-on-year. “The Olympics were said to be incredible in terms of revenue… Some of us didn’t go on vacation and we had to rearrange our shifts so that we could all be here on D-Day,” he adds, noting that the store was mostly empty.
On the contrary, many tourists came to Paris. Around 1.7 million foreign tourists arrived during the Olympics, up 13 percent from last year, and 1.4 million French, up 26 percent from last year, according to government data released last week. In addition to them, the Olympic Games attracted millions of other people who came to the metropolis for one day.
“I think the bet paid off for our country,” said French Tourism Minister Olivia Grégoire at a press conference last week. But according to shop owners and managers, shopping was not the main interest of tourists. “They came here for the sport,” Orlando says. Denaive also agrees with this, according to which visitors “spend so much money on hotels, flights and tickets (…) that they don’t have much left for shopping”.
Even if tourists wanted to get to the shops and restaurants, many of them would have a hard time because Paris decided to host the Olympics in the center of the city instead of building a sports complex outside it. 45,000 policemen and 10,000 soldiers were deployed to protect them, along with reinforcements from more than 40 countries. Most Parisians and visitors welcomed the security measures, but not the metal barriers erected on both banks of the Seine, which complicated passage through the city.
For Patrick Aboukrat, who represents 190 shop and restaurant owners in the Marais district of Paris, the Olympics were “more than disastrous”. According to him, from mid-June to the end of July, sales in this area fell by an average of 35 to 40 percent. As the owner of a fashion store says that the clothing industry experienced an unexpectedly bad period in terms of sales, that’s why, like many others, he finally decided to close the stores.
“It wasn’t worth it, and those in the neighborhood who kept the shops open told me they were empty,” adds Aboukrat.
On the island of Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame Cathedral stands, most merchants lost 40 to 50 percent of their turnover. For most of the Olympics, this area in particular was difficult to access as it was surrounded by security barriers. Officials say the restrictions were necessary to keep everyone safe.
However, Minister Grégoire played down talk of possible losses, saying that “we often come across people who complain”. Still, the government announced on June 14 that it would set up a commission to deal with claims for financial compensation from those who claim to have been in areas restricted by roadblocks. It will begin reviewing applications next January.