by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:35 AM ET, Thu June 13, 2024
Despite general excitement for the 2024 Summer Olympics in
Paris, luxury travel agencies in the United States report lackluster demand for
the sporting event.
According to Reuters.com,
luxury advisors are reporting that more modest travelers are booking vacations
in Paris during the Olympic Games—running between July 26 and August 11—but
high-spending clientele are opting for trips outside France during that period.
Flight ticketing data firm, Valencia, said that U.S.
travelers have booked
the most airline tickets to Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympics, resulting
in a 37-percent increase in scheduled trips compared to 2023.
Luxury travel agency, Virtuoso, revealed data that suggests summer
travel bookings for Paris are up 172 percent year-over-year, but bookings for
France have declined 22 percent from last year. Virtuoso said clients are
booking trips to Spain and the United Kingdom instead, where summer bookings
are up 44 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
“We are definitely seeing people go to Paris,” Virtuoso
spokesperson Misty Belles told Reuters. “But is it as robust as it could be? I
can’t say that it is.”
Earlier this month, Accor Group CEO Sebastien Bazin said hotel
bookings for the Olympics were not “going to be as extraordinary as we
would have expected.”
Commercial real estate data firm, CoStar, said occupancy for
luxury and upper upscale Paris hotels in August is expected to increase 9.1
percent, while room rates are expected to jump by 73 percent.
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