The health crisis deprived Paris and its region of 15.5 billion euros in revenue last year due to a “historic drop in attendance” by foreign tourists, according to figures released Monday.
• Read also: Gradual deconfinement in England, which softens the rules for outdoor dating
• Read also: Virus: Mexico records 69% more deaths than those listed
Hitherto accustomed to attendance records, the French capital received some 33.1 million fewer tourists in 2020 compared to the previous year. It suffered last year, like all destinations, from an unprecedented “collapse” in demand and “the general introduction of travel restrictions”, according to this report from the Regional Tourism Committee (CRT).
Thus only 17.5 million tourists, including 12.6 million French, were welcomed last year in Paris and its Île-de-France region, a sign of an “unprecedented deterioration in activity. touristic “. They generated 6.4 billion euros in tourism revenue.
Unsurprisingly, the drop “is more marked for international customers with -78% of stays” against “-56% for French customers”, or 15.7 million fewer French tourists compared to 2019.
“After a promising start to the year despite the onset of the health crisis in Asia and the continuation of social movements in France, tourist activity stopped from mid-March”, with the start of the first confinement, according to the CRT. Then “a certain recovery was noted” at the end of these restrictions, “from May 11” and until the second confinement at the end of October.
“Tourism in Paris Île-de-France was thus able to benefit from a period of respite, particularly between July and October with an activity mainly driven by Ile-de-France residents, the French and a few local customers – Germany, United Kingdom, -Bas, Belgium, Italy – ”, observes the CRT.
Very tried, the hotel industry has “suffered the full brunt of the absence of business and international customers” and a number of establishments closed from mid-March to the end of May, then from the end of October. This resulted in a 68% drop in hotel nights in 2020, compared to -55% for seasonal rentals, compared to 2019.
The hotels in the capital have particularly suffered from the absence of international clientele, “70% of their turnover being generated by it”, especially in high-end establishments, recalls the CRT, while the frequentation of museums and monuments suffered greatly from “140 days of exceptional closure”.
The Louvre Museum and the Versailles estate have thus seen their attendance plummet by 72% and 76% respectively.
As for business tourism in Paris Île-de-France, which “can represent up to half of hotel nights” per year, it has suffered greatly with the cascading cancellation of trade fairs and professional events, but remains a ” powerful lever ”for the recovery.