Luxury Travelers Sideline Paris for Quieter Spots During Olympic Season

Luxury Travelers Sideline Paris for Quieter Spots During Olympic Season

As Paris prepares for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the city’s travel scene reveals an intriguing trend. Travel Pulse revealed that, despite the general excitement for the event, luxury travel agencies in the United States  are noting a lukewarm interest from their wealthier customers.

On the surface, it appears that Paris is in a confident position. However this is not the case; flight data reveals a notable 37% rise in U.S. trips to Paris over last year. Recent news from Reuters website has revealed that average travelers are excited to book trips to Paris for the Olympics. The games are set from July 26 to August 11, but luxury travelers are considering other destinations.

However, luxury travel agency Virtuoso paints a different picture. Paris is seeing a summer travel boom. Bookings are up a whopping 172% compared to last year. However, this trend isn’t translating to the rest of France. Overall bookings for the country are actually down 22% from last year.

The agency also indicated that wealthy tourists are skipping Paris and heading to Spain and the UK instead. These destinations are seeing a summer travel surge, with bookings up 44% and 10% respectively.

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“We are definitely seeing people go to Paris,” says Virtuoso spokesperson Misty Belles. “But is it as robust as it could be? I can’t say that it is.” This sentiment echoes that the lack of interest from high-rollers isn’t unique. It seems wealthy travelers might be changing their minds about how they spend their money during big events like the Olympics.

Sebastien Bazin, the head of Accor Group, said that hotel reservations for the Olympics are lower than expected. This might be because people are worried about too many people, strict security, or just wanting a quieter holiday away from the busy games.

Some think wealthy travelers might choose a calmer visit to Paris, away from the Olympic excitement. The tough economy could also be affecting their spending on trips. It’s not clear yet how this will affect high-end travel in Paris. Even though more tourists are coming, the Olympics may not bring in as much money as luxury businesses hoped.