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On a typical summer day, tourists flock to the historic Marais district of Paris, wandering its charming medieval streets dotted with ultra-chic boutiques, gazing at stunning private mansions, strolling through the elegant 17th-century square Place des Vosges, and filling humming restaurants and bars.
But this summer has hardly been typical, and those streets, shops and cafes have been markedly emptier in the days leading up to the Paris Olympics — leaving businesses like Stolly’s Stone Bar, a pub popular with English speakers, pining for summers past.
It’s a far cry from what business owners expected when they first heard the Olympics were coming to Paris, says David Carroll, who stood behind the bar on a recent, slow weekday.
“It’s sure not the Olympics we were hoping for — so far, anyway,” said Carroll, a Canadian who has been working in the neighborhood for 20 years. “It’s the same for everyone around here.”
Carroll attributes the light crowds to multiple factors, but first and foremost the chilling effect from security measures that have had tourists encountering metal fences, police checkpoints and demands for a special QR code that they may have neglected to obtain — a digital pass required to access some popular areas before Friday's highly secured opening ceremony along the Seine River.
Now, visitors are facing major disruptions after officials reported fires and other sabotage to the high-speed rail network.
Some would-be tourists decided to avoid Paris altogether during the Olympics, fearing high prices, crowds or general chaos. On top of that, many Parisians have escaped the city in their usual summer exodus — likely even more so this year.
“Many tourists haven't arrived yet and Parisians have left, so it’s kind of a combination,” Carroll said. And as for the tourists who are here, “people aren’t able to move around, so wherever they are, they're kind of stuck in their areas."
He’s hopeful this is “the calm before the storm” and that after Friday's opening ceremony, things will loosen up. But for now, it can be an ordeal to make even a simple urban trip.
Just ask Gillian Levison and Richard Mitchell. The British couple traveled by train from London this week precisely because, Mitchell said, they figured flying during the Olympics would be “a nightmare.” The rail journey went smoothly until they arrived at the Gare du Nord, the train station in the north of Paris, and found their pre-ordered taxi had been canceled.
There was a “terrific queue” for taxis at the station, Levison said, and while they felt lucky to find one, the odyssey to their hotel on the Left Bank took two hours and cost 200 euros ($217), exponentially more than it would normally cost.
The irony is that the couple, who live in Dorset, England, have no interest “in those blessed Olympics,” as Levison puts it. “Definitely not here for that,” she said. Rather, they are attending a family wedding in the countryside and wanted to spend a few days in Paris first.
“It seems they didn’t think much about how people were going to get across the river,” Mitchell said of Paris authorities.
It’s all been certainly hurting the business hopes of Jean-Pierre Salson, who owns Factory's Paris, a shop in the Marais specializing in menswear. Salson estimates business is down 30% compared with this time last year and probably 40% among American customers.
“It's been very slow since the beginning of June,” he said, "and July is worse. There’s a lot less tourists, from all the countries. I think they're avoiding France and Paris because they're afraid of the Olympics."
And for those who are in Paris, it's especially hard to get to the center, he added. “There are restricted areas you can’t get to by car. So you need to walk, and some subway stations are closed.”
Analysts say the high costs of travel to Paris this Olympic season — and staying there once they arrive — means some planes are landing with empty seats and hotels are not as booked as they normally would be in the summer high season.
Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys, a travel data company with access to airline industry ticketing data, said arrivals to Paris in the three weeks before the Games were down 13% from a year earlier, meaning typical tourists are holding off on trips. But those coming to Paris for the Games have sent arrivals up by 8% during the Olympic period, he said.
Some tourists who would traditionally have been pouring in at this point of the summer "have been put off by high prices and communication on the number of new obstacles created by the Olympic Games,” such as landmarks being closed or difficulties getting around, he said. “Those traditional travelers have decided that it would be probably great to visit Paris, but not at that time.”
Airlines are feeling the pain. Ponti said that some planes arriving in Paris are not full after many airlines increased capacity for the Games and charged “really high fares.” Air France-KLM said it expects a 150 million to 170 million euro drop in revenue from the Games in the third quarter, while Delta foresees a $100 million hit from June to August.
Those visitors who do get to Paris face high prices at hotels, leading to rooms sitting empty, according to Tim Hentschel, CEO of Hotelplanner, a hotel booking platform. Paris hotels are seeing 70% occupancy compared with 90% at the same time last year, he said this week, noting that the average rate was twice as high as it usually is — at 700 euros a night.
“The prices that they were charging for Paris hotel rooms and Paris travel over those Olympic days were just too high for consumers to bear,” Hentschel said, adding that hotels are now starting to drop rates dramatically.
Airbnb, on the other hand, has not seen the same issues. It said in a statement that the Paris Olympics is “one of the biggest hosting events in Airbnb history, with more guests staying in local homes on Airbnb than at any event, ever before.”
Some business owners say they believe — or simply hope — that things will get better as the city becomes easier to navigate after Friday's opening ceremony. Though officials say the rail disruptions may last at least through the weekend.
“It’s true, it’s very quiet now,” Guillaume Faller, who manages the Feria restaurant in the Marais, said this week. “Much quieter than the same period last year. But I think it will bounce back in a few days. In any case, I hope so. But for now, the (situation) is clearly not what we expected it to be.”
Salson, the clothing shop owner, believes it's just a matter of patience.
”I (just) have to wait," he said. "I’m sure they will be back, because I had many American customers telling me in the spring: ‘Well, see you in September, October and November!’"
