Paris has overestimated its appeal

The Olympic Games tourism boom hasn’t materialized - now hoteliers and Airbnb owners are frantically cutting their rates

Has Paris overestimated the appeal of the Olympics this summer? It certainly seems that many of the city's hotels did. They expected to benefit from a bonanza of bookings. But it seems that the expected demand - certainly deterred by these price increases - did not materialize as expected.

Key takeaways

• Prices are still higher than normal for July/August, but rates that were raised to take advantage of a surge in demand during the Games have dropped significantly;
• According to data insights firm Lighthouse, the overall average rate for the Olympic period has dropped from €523 to €282 for three-star hotels and from €738 to €430 for four-star properties over the past nine months. Even in the last month or so, they have dropped by €50 per night;
• Lighthouse says that while hotel bookings during the Olympics are higher than during most of the rest of the summer, occupancy rates are still mostly below 70 percent, and only rise above that level on four days during the period.

Get the full story at The Telegraph (by subscription only)