PARIS AFTER THE OLYMPICS GAMES ?

With its exceptional cultural and architectural heritage, Paris was already a must-see destination in terms of tourism. The media coverage and success of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will bring new and lasting benefits to the City of Light, as was the case for London following the 2012 Olympics. There was a 20% increase in the number of tourists in the 5 years following the London 2012 Olympic Games. The media exposure generated by the event is boosting the reputation and appeal of the French capital and creating a new desire to travel to France.

The Olympic Games were eagerly awaited by the Paris tourism industry, which seized on the excitement of the Games to boost its profile and revenues. This was the case this year, with every player from culture to shopping seeing an increase in sales: over 150% for culture, 40% for restaurants and over 42% for fashion and beauty.

The nationalities that spent the most were Americans (29%), Japanese (+129%) and Brazilians (33%). Europeans have also taken part in this spending, particularly the British since they have been able to benefit from tax-free shopping.

In terms of traffic to Paris, the Air France Group dominated the skies with over 1,000,000 more passengers than in 2023 over the period of the Olympic Games.

Other airlines also increased their flight networks for the Olympic Games, including Europe’s No. 1 airline easyjet, as well as major international airlines such as Delta Airlines, American Airlines, LATAM and Japan Airlines. These airlines carried travellers who were more than eager to take part in the Olympic Games and enjoy a unique experience in Paris.

To achieve this, the airlines had put in place appropriate in-flight entertainment solutions: Editorial features on Paris and the Olympic Games in the in-flight magazines, dedicated programmes on the in-flight video screens, special welcome events in their VIP lounges and digital activations to meet passengers’ expectations, but above all to offer a flawless customer experience. During the summer, and particularly during the Olympic Games, advertisers had exceptional visibility and brand exposure with a premium target audience.

With the end-of-year festivities, the 2nd busiest time of the year for air travellers, it is once again possible to target all those European and international travellers who will be choosing Paris as their destination. Around 5 million travellers are expected, already a slight increase compared to December 2023. Another not-to-be-missed event.