They expected an Olympic boon, but some Paris businesses experienced an Olympic tourism bust

印刷用画面を開く

Posted

Category: (Self-Study) Business

Switch to Watch View >

Storyline

Hide Storyline

On a typical summer day, tourists flock to the historic Marais district of Paris, wandering through charming medieval lanes dotted with ultra-chic boutiques, gazing at stunning private mansions and the elegant 17th-century Place des Vosges, and filling humming eateries and bars.

But this summer was hardly typical, and those streets, shops, and cafes were markedly emptier in the days leading up to the Paris Olympics—leaving businesses like Stolly’s Stone Bar, a pub catering to the Anglophone community, pining for summers past.

Some attributed the light crowds to multiple factors, but first and foremost the chilling effect from tough security measures that restricted movement in the French capital, with tourists encountering metal fences, police checkpoints, and requests for a special QR code they may have neglected to obtain—a digital pass required to access certain areas of central Paris before the opening ceremony.

It certainly hurt the business hopes of Jean-Pierre Salson, who owns Factory’s, a shop on Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie in the Marais that specializes in menswear. Salson estimated business was down 30 percent since last year, and even more—40 percent—among his American customers.

“I think they are avoiding France and Paris because they are afraid of the Olympics,” he said. Especially, he said, because of traffic. “There are restricted areas you can’t get to by car. So you need to walk, some subway stations are closed—it’s difficult to get especially in the center of Paris.”

Analysts say the high costs of travel to Paris this Olympic season—and staying there—meant some planes landed with empty seats and hotels were not as booked as they normally would be in the summer high season.

Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys, a travel data company with access to airline industry ticketing data, said arrivals to Paris in the three weeks before the Games were down 13% from a year earlier. He called it a “slump” because “people who would traditionally visit the French capital have decided to stay away.”

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Script

Hide Script

[Security in front of Eiffel Tower]

[Barricade in front of the merchant shop]

[Barricade to merchant]

[Jean-Pierre Salson at his shop Factory]

Jean-Pierre Salson (interview): “Since the beginning of June, it started to get slower. July is worse, because I think there’s less a lot of less tourists of all the countries, American, but all the countries, I think they are avoiding France and Paris because they are afraid of the Olympics, so traffic or whatever.”

[Jumpers]

Jean-Pierre Salson (interview): “I think it’s (the number of customers) about 30% down from last year. For the U.S. customer, I think it’s about 40% less than last year.”

[Restaurant]

Guillaume Faller (interview): “It’s pretty quiet. It’s pretty quiet at the moment. Much calmer than at the same period last year. Nevertheless, I think things will start going again in a few days, at least I hope so.”

[People at cafes]

Hema Satija (interview): “It’s difficult to walk around because most of the streets are, like most of the roads are closed and as a tourist, it’s very difficult. I know it’s Olympics, I understand security and all that, but I think they should plan for tourism along with the Olympics.”

[American tourist Becky Miller with luggage]

Becky Miller (interview): “Yeah, we were actually carrying our luggage and we tried to get through one way and then had to kind of go around a few more blocks and and haul it up this way. But, yeah, I know you have to get some special passes to go in certain areas that are restricted to, so, you know, they’re doing their best with security, that sounds like.”

[Eiffel Tower]

Olivier Ponti (interview): “We’re actually seeing a reduction in international travel to Paris prior to, to the games. So actually, the increase in visitor numbers during the Olympics is going to compensate for that, for that decrease pre-Olympic. We can still hope for, the destination can still hope for last-minute bookings. That’s something we’ll keep a close eye on. So I think all we know, the games will have a positive impact on the on travel to Paris. But at the moment, we’re really in this period when the Parisians, the tourism professionals in the French capital have seen the negative impacts of the games, and they’re still waiting for the positive impact.”

[Merchant shop]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.

The related lesson for this video will be published next Tuesday.