The Olympics Effect: Insights into its impact on Paris' hospitality industry

In just less than 100 days, the city of Paris will ignite the Olympic flame, setting the stage for the world's most extraordinary sporting spectacles and casting the City of Lights into the global spotlight.

It's a unique opportunity to examine the hotel pricing trends and patterns emerging in the run-up to the Games, and when read along with Lighthouse's Paris Olympics Report, provides a playbook for unlocking event-driven success for travel & hospitality professionals.

So what is the impact of the 2024 Olympic Games on Paris's travel & hospitality industry?

Let's find out.

Paris sees high demand around the Olympics, yet market on-the-books slows

The data is clear: Anticipation for the Olympic Games is very high at this stage. Lighthouse's forward-looking demand indicators - driven by upper-funnel data points including flight and hotel searches - highlight the surge in interest from the 24th of July, a trend that continues through the duration of the Games.

Current market occupancy rates are hovering around the 50% mark, and while the initial pickup was strong, that pace has slowed down.

However, compared to other recent major events in Paris, market OTB is dramatically higher with 100 days to go before the event. In the buildup to both the Rugby World Cup final in October 2023 and the Champions League final in May 2022, market OTB broke through the 50% mark 4 weeks before the date, in the case of the Rugby World Cup final and 12 weeks before, in the case of the Champions League final

Paris hotel room prices trending downwards

As accommodation providers try to trigger more booking momentum, there has been a noticeable drop in advertised prices.

In the graph below, you can see the difference in advertised prices in December and prices for the same rooms in April.

In the last 30 days, average prices have come down 6% for 5 star properties, 8% for 4 star properties and 9% for 3 star properties.

Despite this shift downwards in price, the prices currently advertised are still well above the average for the year in both hotels and short-term rentals.

Ripple effects of the 2024 Olympics on accommodation prices in other French cities

Pricing data suggests that the business influx from the 2024 Olympics will extend beyond Paris to other French cities. This is evident in the noticeable increase in advertised prices during the Olympics period compared to the same timeframe in 2023

Lille stands out with a staggering 202% price increase, while we can see that Lyon, Marseille and Nantes are also seeing the Olympics effect. Most other cities are experiencing moderate increases, suggesting a nationwide impact of the Olympics on the French accommodation market.

Interestingly, Clermont-Ferrand and Cannes are still slightly below 2023 with their 2024 advertised rates, but given the demand indicators are elevated, particularly for Cannes, this may soon change.

These trends provide valuable insight into the ripple effects of a major event like the Olympics on the broader accommodation market.

Our latest report, Paris 2024: Analyzing the impact of the Olympic Games on Paris's hospitality market, explores these trends in even more detail, offering you in-depth data, analysis and guidance to help you take more confident, data-backed decisions when events come to your market.

Download the report and get in touch with the Lighthouse team if you have any questions.

Read the report now