TOP 5 RECORD FIGURES OF TOURISM IN PARIS

This is the increase in arrivals recorded in hotels in Paris and Île-de-France in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, for a total of 17.1 million arrivals (+ 700,000), a new historical record. Tourists spent 10.3 billion euros over this period (EUR +535 M). However, this overall performance of tourism in Paris hides some disparities. The growth is driven by international customers (+9.2%), and in particular the massive return of Europeans while the French (who represent 51.8% of arrivals) show a slight decline (-0.3%).

The Louvre Museum is the busiest Parisian attraction, with 4.76 million visitors (+17%) over the first six months of this year. It is ahead of the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (1.17 million, -4.6%) and the Arc de Triomphe (829,000, +10.2%). The Holy Chapel and the Pantheon are among the fastest growing. It should be noted that the figures for the Eiffel Tower have not been reported, nor those of the Musée d'Orsay.
In Île-de-France, Versailles largely dominates the ranking with 3.7 million visitors in the first half (+0.3%). But many sites are showing good growth, such as the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte (122,000 visitors, +19.6%), the castle of Vincennes, the Basilica of Saint-Denis or the Museum of the Great War in the Pays de Meaux (+22.8%).

This is the number of Chinese arrivals in Paris Region hotels in the first half of the year (+5.4%). Over the past 10 years, they've grown by 361%! Some of the promo projects include an agreement with the web giant Alibaba to reference the site visitparisregion.com deployed since June, but also a hotline dedicated to Chinese or the creation of specific routes where Chinese customers can make purchases without cash.
Nevertheless, Americans remain the leading international clientele for tourism in Paris Region, with 1.255 million arrivals in the first half (+10.7%), ahead of the British (982,000, +8.4%) and Germans (592,000, +16.5%). The Chinese are in fourth place. The Japanese (+17%), Italians (+20.2%) and Spaniards (+16.6%) also returned.

This is the average occupancy rate of Paris Region hotels in the first half of 2018, up 3.6 points compared to 2017. They thus return to their pre-attack levels. In June, the rate was even 86.4%! All categories report rising occupancy rates, particularly 4 and 5 stars (+4 points). This performance is accompanied by a significant increase in rates.

This is the percentage of tourism professionals surveyed who expect an improvement in activity in the medium term. This is enough to hope to reach the 50 million arrivals mark in 2018, compared to 48 million last year. This optimism is corroborated by air bookings for Paris, up 8.1% from August to October. North America leads (+12%), followed by Oceania (+11.8%).
European travelers (+6.4%) who, after having postponed their holidays following the attacks, are returning massively. Starting with the Italians (+29.7%).