Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. luxury travel agents say demand for the Paris Olympics has been weak so far, with wealthy travelers instead opting for nearby European destinations.
Olympic destinations often see a surge in tourism, but travel agents say more frugal travelers are making bookings for the games, which run in Paris from July 26 to Aug. 11. European luxury retailers LVMH and Cartier have already said they expect to see increased business outside France from wealthy tourists who avoid Paris during the games.
As of late May, the United States was the origin of the most tickets coming into Paris during the Olympics, according to Valencia, Spain-based airfare data company Forward Keys. Airfares from the United States to Paris are expected to increase 37% year-over-year compared to the same period in 2023.
“More people are definitely going to Paris,” said Misty Bells, spokeswoman for luxury travel agent Virtuoso, “but is it as good as it could be? Not really.”
Virtuoso's summer bookings to Paris are up 172% year-over-year, but bookings across France are down 22% year-over-year. Customers are instead flocking to neighboring Spain and the UK, where summer bookings are up 44% and 10%, respectively, over 2023.
The Prelude, a Miami-based luxury travel concierge company, said it has received inquiries about Olympic tickets and packages but has not yet received any bookings.
“Given the nature of the clientele we work with and the fact that the Olympics aren't until July, we expect to see more requests coming in mid-to-late June,” said Stephen DiFinizio, founder of The Prelude.
The ultra-wealthy don't plan that far ahead, he said, and that's reflected in room availability at top hotels, including the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris, which declined a request for comment.
But Accor Group CEO Sébastien Bazin told an audience at an industry conference in New York in early June that hotel bookings for the Olympics were not “out of the ordinary.”
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“In Paris, occupancy is solid at 85 percent but not that different from last year, when there were no Olympics, so it's not going to be as spectacular as we had expected,” he said.
Occupancy rates for luxury and upper upscale hotels in August are expected to increase 9.1% from a year ago due to the 11 games scheduled during this period, according to commercial real estate data firm CoStar. Room rates are expected to increase 73% during the same period.
CoStar predicts that occupancy rates in July will be down 0.5% from a year ago.
(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by David Gaffen and Aurora Ellis)
