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On Wednesday, stores on Paris’s high-fashion Avenue Montaigne had to stay closed until 1pm because of the Olympic women’s triathlon course passing on the avenue after triathletes swam in the river Seine.
It was the latest disruption caused by the Olympics, which shut down bridges and made navigating the city — typically Europe’s shopping capital, with the summer months capturing high tourist foot traffic and spend — difficult for anyone on the ground ahead of the Games, when Parisians fled the city and tourists avoided the construction.
The local luxury sector had been bracing for a pullback in Paris stores in the run-up to the start of the 2024 summer games. “Our experience with the Olympics is that it’s not the best moment for us,” Hermès executive chairman Axel Dumas said during the company earnings calls on 25 July, the eve of the opening ceremony. “We have seen that in London, in Beijing, and we are probably going to see that in Paris. That’s what we budgeted with our Parisian stores,” he said. “Having said that, we expect to have clients all over the world because the clients who won’t be in Paris will be somewhere else.”
The lead-up to the Games resulted in slower tourist traffic than usual. Since the opening ceremony, there are signs of life in Paris again, as the Olympics draw in spectators. Corinne Menegaux, managing director of the Paris tourist office Paris Je t’aime, says that tourists decreased 10 to 15 per cent from 1 June to 24 July compared to the same period in 2023. By 24 July, that turned around. From 24 to 27 July, foreign visitors were up 15 per cent. On the first weekend of the Olympics, meaning 27 and 28 July, German tourist traffic was up 42 per cent, Brazilians up 46 per cent and Japanese visitors up 237 per cent.
Tourists are expected to be up between 10 to 15 per cent during the games compared with the same period last year, with American tourist traffic expected to be up 18 per cent, Menegaux adds. Perhaps it’s the Simone Biles effect? The American gymnast and phenomenon has already won two gold medals in Paris, drawing large crowds of fans. Summer vacationers can now fairly easily go around the city and make it to sports competition venues. For Paris locals, the Olympic spirit has finally kicked in, as Olympians including swimmer Léon Marchand pull in gold medals.
Meanwhile, on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, there’s also been a rebound in luxury spend since the opening ceremony, according to those on the ground. The Avenue des Champs-Elysées had been undergoing transformation in the run-up to the Olympics and brands have also made an effort to make the most of Olympic tourism. There have been 62 store openings and reopenings since 2022 on the Avenue, including 16 in 2024, according to the Comité Champs-Élysées. That includes the openings of the flagships of Saint Laurent (in December 2023), Calvin Klein and French sports equipment company Salomon (both in June 2024), fast-growing Swiss sportswear brand On (in July 2024), the reopening of Sephora (October 2023), Levi’s (April 2024) and Adidas (May 2024).
Selvane Mohandas du Ménil, managing director of the International Association of Department Stores (IADS) that counts Galeries Lafayette among its members, says that the Boulevard Haussmann (home to Galeries Lafayette and Printemps) and Avenue des Champs-Élysées have satisfying traffic levels. Off the beaten path in Paris, shopkeepers are disappointed. “The much-anticipated windfall gain didn’t happen in these neighborhoods,” he says.
At Dover Street Market Paris, the highly regarded, independent fashion retailer which opened in May in the Marais, traffic has held up well. “We didn t expect a huge surge during the Olympics, but every day we still have around 1,000 people passing through, and 2,000 to 3,000 on the weekend. The opening weekend of the Olympics [was great for] sales. I believe the long term effect will be very positive,” says Adrian Joffe, chief executive officer of Dover Street Market and president of Comme des Garçons International.
Between the stunning images of the Paris monuments during the ceremony, the beach volley at the Eiffel Tower, fencing at the Grand Palais, skateboarding at Place de la Concorde, Paris’s sights are being promoted across televisions around the world, which could increase interest for future visitors. “The London Olympics were not a catalyst for tourism in the year 2012, but they did boost the city’s appeal over the following five years,” says Mohandas du Ménil. Though there has been some bad press as well: events that were covered widely by foreign media ahead of the Games like the bed bugs infestation last year, French pension reform strikes and the recent political turmoil a few weeks before the Olympics, didn’t help.
Mohandas du Ménil says that the Games will be a proof of concept for the Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées and the LVMH-owned department store La Samaritaine, which opened in 2019 and 2021, respectively. “A period like the Games with a lot of international visitors will be a litmus test,” he says.
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The hospitality industry has reaped the benefits of the influx of Olympic revelers. François Delahaye, general manager of Hôtel Plaza Athénée, the palace on Avenue Montaigne and COO of parent group Dorchester Collection, is positive. He says that the hotel has been full since the beginning of the Games. About half of the clients are invited by brands and the other half are traditional clients of the hotel. The average nightly rate at the Plaza Athénée during the Games is €2,000, which is in line with fashion week rates, he says. Forecasts up to the closing ceremony on 11 August are good, he adds. At the same time, brands are pulling visitors away from the restaurants with their own hospitality activations. LVMH has La Maison LVMH, Omega its Omega House, Ralph Lauren’s Paris Ralph’s Restaurant has a bespoke Team USA tablescape during the Games, plus a Ralph’s Coffee inside the Team USA House.
The period between the Olympics and the Paralympics is cause for concern. “We all suffered a lot from 1 to 25 July. The Olympics had a knock-on effect before the Games and will probably after too,” says Delahaye. The Paralympics run from 28 August to 8 September and will be followed by the dismantling of the Olympic installations. Because of the dismantling, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) has advised its members to avoid show venues in the Place de la Concorde area during Paris Fashion Week in September, which runs from 23 September to 1 October. We can expect a busy post-Olympics fashion week though, with breakout stars from the Games sitting front row. Hotel occupancy for the first week of September during the Paralympics is estimated to be up 5 per cent compared with September last year, according to Menegaux, who predicts a post Olympic momentum.
“Paris made a big splash with the opening ceremony, and so far everything is going swimmingly,” Mohandas du Ménil adds.
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