Visa Data Shows Boost in Tourism in France as the Olympic Games Paris 2024 Comes to a Close
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42% more tourists traveled toParis in the first week of the Olympics, with US Visa cardholders representing the largest share of visitors (72% , year-on-year increase) -
Significant increase in travelers to other cities hosting Olympic events, including
Lille , Saint-Etienne andMarseille - Biggest spend came from fans who attended the competitions compared to those who did not
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42% increase in the number of Visa cardholders who traveled toParis during the first week of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 -
Other
Paris 2024 host cities benefited from the Olympic Games, withLille seeing a188% increase in visitors, Saint-Etienne150% , andMarseille 48% -
Visa cardholders from the US are largest share of visitors from any country with a
72% year-on-year growth, followed byLatin America (+62% ) andAsia Pacific (+57% ) -
In
Europe , fans from theUK (+53% ) andGermany (+53% ) showed a strong interest in attending the Games -
Parisians didn’t flee the city as previously expected. Number of Parisians traveling overseas remained consistent with the previous year, with a minor uptick (from
4% to5% ) in Parisians traveling outside ofParis during the Olympic Games
Top Spending Patterns
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Visa cardholders spent more in
Paris than in the previous year, with theUK leading the year-on-year growth with a42% increase in their spending, followed byLatin America (+34% ) and US (+32% )2 -
Visa cardholders who attended Games competitions spent
24% more than those who did not, with39% of European fans (excludingFrance ) spending more3 -
The most significant year-on-year increase in spending levels in
Paris was seen in theatres & museums +205% , restaurants +67% , food and grocery +54% , retail goods +53% , fast food restaurants53% 4
Charlotte Hogg, Chief Executive Officer of Visa Europe, said: “Our data shows a significant boost for the Parisian economy from hosting the Games.
Visa’s responsibility to provide payment systems for the Olympic and Paralympic Games requires a robust and venue-specific plan combined with large-scale operations. Working hand-in-hand with the Organizing Committee for the last three years, Visa has built a custom payment network across
Visa has launched the Visa Go app to connect spectators and tourists with local businesses during the Games. Visitors can download the Visa Go App here: https://go.paris.visa.com/home
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Disclaimer:
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1 Figures compare the periods from 2024-04-01 to 2024-08-02 with 2023-04-01 to 2023-08-02
2 Figures compare the periods from 2024-04-01 to 2024-08-02 with 2023-04-01 to 2023-08-02.
3 Figures describe in-person transactions in
4 Year on Year spending growth - Figures compare the days 28 Jul – 6th Aug 2023 and 26th Jul – 4th Aug 2024
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240812496775/en/
Jackie Dresch - jdresch@visa.com
Source: Visa Inc.