Paris (AFP)
Closed since October 30 due to containment against the Covid-19 epidemic, the Eiffel Tower announced its reopening on Tuesday from December 16.
"I look forward to seeing you again on December 16, from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (last admission around 5:15 p.m.)! You can book your visit now," wrote the monument, one of the most visited in the world, on its official Twitter account.
"Paris will sparkle again for the end of the year celebrations," said the deputy mayor for tourism of the city of Paris, Frédéric Hocquard, on Twitter.
Attendance at the Eiffel Tower, hit by the Covid-19 crisis, fell by around 80% compared to 2019 and its turnover by 70%, the Eiffel Tower Operating Company indicated at the end of October. (SETE).
Emmanuel Macron announced last week that cinemas, theaters and museums could reopen on December 15, if the health situation allows.
Containment must also be lifted on this date, and replaced by a curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Before the reconfinement, the Eiffel Tower only received "2,500 visitors per day for a monument capable of accommodating up to 25,000", according to Jean-François Martins, president of SETE, even if the start of the All Saints holidays had allowed a slight rise.
At issue: the restrictive measures accompanying the health crisis.
Social distancing means that the tower elevators are only half-filled, and the curfew that preceded the re-containment had prevented the usual midnight closure on weekends.
It is the absence of tourists which has especially dug the figures, because the monument normally receives "80 to 85%" of foreign visitors according to the SETE, which has since concentrated "on a local population" of Ile-de-France.
Positive point: with the consequent drop in attendance, queuing to access the Eiffel Tower is out of fashion and "the visit is more comfortable", according to the operating company.
© 2020 AFP