Olympics, Paralympics were a success for Paris but a calamity for some of its businesses
Many in the city’s service industry say they had one of their worst-ever summers, mainly because of security restrictions at Olympic venues
Parisian business owners and hotel managers were promised a summer like no other: millions of tourists would flood the French capital for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, generating huge profits for Paris and its region.
With the Games officially over, the time has come to run the numbers. And many in the Paris service industry say they had one of their worst summers ever – notably because of security restrictions around city-centre Olympic venues.
Tom Denaive, who runs a family jewellery store ideally located between the Louvre Museum and Place de la Concorde – which hosted multiple Olympic events – said the season was nothing short of “dramatic”.
In mid-June, the city closed the nearest metro station, then access to the scenic Tuileries Garden. And a week before the opening ceremony on the River Seine, the nearby rue de Rivoli, a major pedestrian and commercial artery, was shut down.
“It was a dead street,” Denaive said. “I felt like we were back to the Covid-19 days.”
Disappointment was also felt a few steps away on rue Saint-Honoré, home to some of Paris’ most prestigious hotels and finest haute couture shops.
