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The 2024 Olympic Games, scheduled to take place from July 26th to August 11th, coincide with a holiday period, which will attract many tourists to the capital Paris and cause hotel prices to skyrocket.
However, hotel room prices in Paris during the Olympic Games are currently trending downwards, although they remain significantly higher than usual. Meanwhile, the number of property listings on Airbnb is booming.
France is ready for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Contrary to earlier media hype about the "money-making" nature of tourist rentals, as of the end of May 2024, many tourist properties in Paris and the surrounding areas listed on online platforms such as Airbnb, Booking, and Abritel were experiencing low occupancy. Many homeowners, after raising prices to several thousand euros per night for properties in prime locations in the center of Paris, were facing difficulties.
The daily newspaper Le Monde, citing figures from the Paris Tourism Office, reported that in February, the average hotel price for one night in the Paris region was 522 euros (565 USD) during the Olympic Games, a significant decrease from the 759 euros quoted in September 2023.
According to Le Parisien on May 12th, rental prices for properties during the Olympic Games had already dropped by 31% in April compared to February, but the number of rental listings on various platforms continued to increase. Some preferred not to rent out their properties at all rather than further reduce prices. Others were "betting" on last-minute tenants, as so far not many French tenants had made reservations, while according to France Bleu on May 21st, French tourists accounted for 89% of visitors to the Paris region during the Olympic Games.
Many landlords are unable to rent out their properties at the high prices they would like.
Not only are many landlords unable to rent out their properties at the high prices they desire, but they also risk hefty fines if city inspectors find violations, such as renting out properties without reporting them, exceeding the 120-day/year limit for tourist rentals, or renting out properties that are not their primary residence. In fact, the Parisian authorities are currently intensifying inspections of tourist rental properties.
While homeowners renting out properties in the Paris region were hit hard by the Olympics, the summer sunshine and breezes of southern France, especially coastal areas like Marseille, Nice, and Bordeaux, unexpectedly attracted tourists, becoming the big winners.
