• With a hotel occupancy rate of 82%, the Easter weekend was very good from a tourist point of view.

  • After two years of restrictions linked to Covid-19, it could announce the return of the great hours of Parisian tourism even if the figures for 2019 are still a bit far off.

  • If European customers are present, we are still waiting for Asian tourists.

This may be the start of a return to normal.

After two difficult years due to health restrictions, the Easter weekend kicked off the high tourist season in the capital.

And the figures are quite good with an 82% hotel occupancy rate in intramural Paris, while some cultural sites have exceeded their 2019 level of attendance. To find out if this weekend was not just a mesh fire, we asked Corinne Menegaux, director of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, about the trends for the coming season.

After two years of restrictions linked to Covid-19, are we witnessing the spring of tourism in Paris?

Since April the situation has changed.

We have an increase in reservations with peaks on long weekends such as Easter or Ascension, where we find the figures for 2019, the reference year.

For Easter we were at 82% occupancy rate and we are at 87% for Ascension.

On the other hand, on an annual basis, we are a little below 2019 because the start of the year was difficult, we had not yet come out of the restrictions linked to Covid-19.

Nevertheless, we feel that we are in a recovery phase.

For the moment, reservation rates for the summer are a little low, but things are changing a lot, in particular because reservation windows have been reduced.

For example, we are only at -20% compared to 2019 for July against -30% for August, a month that can still increase.

What nationalities are back?

Which ones stayed home?

For the Spaniards and the Italians, we are almost at the level of 2019 but it is a little lower for the United Kingdom and Germany.

Even if for the British, we had 50% more reservations for Easter than in 2019. The American clientele, for its part, is quite stable despite the war in Ukraine which could have cooled them down.

We are at -26.5% compared to 2019 but in an upward phase.

The Middle Eastern clientele is present with rather long stays.

Finally the Asians have not yet returned.

How is this explained?

To explain the absence of Asian customers, there are two factors: the Covid effect with in particular the recent reconfinements and a geopolitical issue which means that China does not grant many visas to keep tourists on its soil.

There will be no return to normal before 2023 and again, it will depend on the health and geopolitical situation.

Speaking of geopolitics, what about the Russians?

Due to the war in Ukraine, there are obviously no Russian customers.

But this only represents 3 to 4% of the total clientele so it is not a major issue even if it is a high-end clientele who spends a lot in hotels, shops, etc.

Has the Covid epidemic transformed tourism in the capital?

Leisure tourism has picked up again, but business tourism is less successful (fairs, seminars, etc.).

We have noticed that business stays are less frequent but longer, it may be a long-term development even if it is a little early to tell.

We have the same phenomenon for groups that resume less quickly, no doubt because of the fear of Covid-19, but also because of the absence of Asian customers who travel a lot in groups.

How are the Parisian tourist sites doing?

Large tourist sites are necessarily more impacted by the reduction in the number of tourists.

This is less the case for the secondary sites which have been able to count on French tourists.

But attendance has picked up again and for long weekends, all the Eiffel Tower visit slots are reserved while the Louvre and the Conciergerie are full.

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  • Paris

  • Ile-de-France

  • Tourism

  • Eiffel Tower

  • Louvre