Paris hotel occupancy nearing 80% for Summer Olympics

With the start of the Summer Olympic Games just weeks away, hotel booking levels in Paris are nearing 80 per cent, according Forward STAR data from CoStar, a real estate marketplace and analytics company.

A growth trajectory in occupancy on the books has accelerated in recent months, as levels were pacing just above 60 per cent in April and at roughly 50 per cent in February, the company says.

As of June 17, occupancy on the books is peaking at 77.8 per cent on Saturday, July 27, which is the night of 14 gold medal events.

Opening night is a close second with occupancy on the books at 77.7 per cent for Friday, July 26, the company says.

When compared to the same time last year, Paris’ booking levels for those nights were at 47.7 per cent and 47.5 per cent, respectively, the data shows.

The lowest occupancy on the books for this year’s Olympic period (59.8 per cent) is currently on Sunday, August 11, the last night of the competition.

“While the Olympics are expected to bring a surge in leisure travel, there does seem to be a shift in business travel patterns leading up to the games,” said Christina Choueifaty, senior account manager at STR. “However, the lower demand we’re seeing for the early summer months can be seen as a temporary adjustment.”

“This dip in travel in the short term is allowing Paris to focus on catering to the massive influx of leisure travellers visiting the market next month. In the long run, the Olympics will further solidify the city's position as a major tourist destination, potentially attracting even more demand in the future.”

Olympic fever in France

This year’s Summer Olympics will see 15 days of sporting competitions and 10 days of Paralympic games.

The historic event – which first took place in Athens, Greece in 1896, and was last hosted in France 100 years ago – will unfold from July 26 to Sept. 8, 2024, in venues not only in Paris, but in 16 French cities, including one overseas region (Tahiti).

As previously reported, preparations are underway in metropolitan Paris, where Olympic organizers are taking sports out of stadiums and placing them in public spaces, where iconic monuments will serve as a backdrop.

And, for the first time in history, the Olympics’ opening ceremony on July 26 won't take place in a stadium, but outdoors, along six kilometres of the Seine River, through the heart of the city.

The opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games is on Aug. 28 from the bottom of the Champs-Elysées to Place de la Concorde.

The event is set to welcome some 15,500 athletes from 206 countries who’ll compete in 54 sporting events (inclusive of the Paralympic Games).

Breaking (breakdancing) will make its Olympic debut this year, joined by three other recently-added sports: surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing.

Outside of Paris, the games will extend from Bordeaux to Saint Etienne, Lyon to Marseille, Nice to Nantes and Lille to Châteauroux, and go as far as French Polynesia, where the waves of Teahupo'o will host the surfing category.

CoStar says the impact of the Olympics is also reflected in the booking levels across the Île-de-France region, with the highest occupancy on the books (75.1 per cent) on Saturday, August 3, the night of 28 gold medal events.

Like Paris, the lowest occupancy on the books (58.9 per cent) for Île-de-France is seen on Sunday, August 11.

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