In July, the occupancy in “Grand Paris” hotels increased by 7% to 72.3% relative to the same period in 2016 – still far below 2015 levels. However the tourism season in Paris has been more or less successful.
The summer tourism season in the city received a “passing grade”. “After a very difficult year for Parisian tourism professionals in 2016, preliminary results for 2017 – especially those for the summer season – attest to a renewed interest in Paris as a destination and make it possible for us to envisage a satisfactory end to the fiscal year,” Pierre Schapira, President of Paris's Conventions and Tourism Bureau stated.
On a cumulative basis, in July and August, the occupancy rate in “Grand Paris” hotels did indeed reach 72.3% - an increase of 7 percentage points compared to the same period in 2016, but down by 6.5 points relative to 2015.
The reason for this was the more limited than expected performance during the month of August – occupancy rate of 65% – as well as a decrease in the average duration of stays (2.2 nights on average in July) in addition to the “still partial” recovery of the leisure tourism sector – the primary cause of the worse than expected results in August.
A Record Number of Arrivals
Nevertheless, performance during the summer tourism season in Paris remains high with the highest number of arrivals in the last ten years – 2.2 million (+12.2% relative to 2016). This record-breaking number is explained by the return of French clientele (+13.6%) as well as by the return of North American clients (USA) which, as in the first half of the year, were "at the forefront of the recovery of foreign tourism,” the Office for the City of Paris remarked.
And the autumn season looks promising. Revitalized by major exhibits and trade shows (Batimat, Milipol Paris, “le Salon des maires et des collectivités locales”, etc.) as well as by a significant cultural resurgence (opening of the Yves Saint Laurent museum, reopening of the “Monnaie de Paris”, large-scale autumn exhibits, etc), the autumn season is “offering encouraging attendance prospects for the end of the year”.
