And the desire increases as the effect draws closer. With less than a month to go before the opening of the Olympic Games and the cohort of visitors expected for the occasion, Parisian hotels continue to fill up. According to the CDS and MKG booking observatory, on a panel of nearly 250 hotels studied, the number of bookings as at 23 June stood at 77, 3% on average for the Olympic fortnight. And 46.0% for the Paralympic Games, which will take place at the end of August/beginning of September.
For the period from 26 July to 11 August, these bookings are up by more than 20 points on last year, and even by almost 40 points in the top-of-the-range segment alone. On the other hand, as expected, this major event is not without its own downside. repoussoir effect. For example, the days surrounding the Olympic Games saw a drop in the volume of bookings compared to last year, of around 5 pts. For the other days from July to September not affected by the Olympic or Paralympic competitions, the volume of bookings is even down by more than 10 points.
Apart from the professionals involved in the event, few business travellers had planned to visit Paris over the summer period anyway. Travellers from elsewhere slightly fewer The latest monthly barometer of the business hotel sector, drawn up in partnership with MKG, shows that the capital has seen an increase in occupancy since the start of the year. Of course, Parisian hoteliers have no reason to lament the fact that the average occupancy rate for the first five months of the year was 75%. This is almost the highest level in Europe, just behind London's 76% and tied with Barcelona for second place among Europe's major cities.
Nevertheless, the Paris occupancy rate is down 1pt compared with the first five months of 2023. At the same time, the price surge of recent years tends to calm down. Average prices - including breakfast - remained stable at 250 euros. The same was true of London, where the average price fell by 3%. However, this phenomenon is not widespread, as Barcelona's business hotels saw an average price increase of 9% at the start of the year.
Several other major European cities have proved attractive for business travellers since the start of the year, including Istanbul, Madrid and Prague where business hotel occupancy rose by almost 5 points or more. This was reflected in all these cities by price rises of around 10% in Prague and Madrid, but more noticeable in Istanbul, where the average price soared by 30%. Conversely, although the Geneva hotel industry welcomed more customers (+4pts for the number of visitors), this was at the cost of a moderation in prices (-6%).
Another factor demonstrating the resilience of business travel in Europe, hotels close to major airports all saw an increase in occupancy, ranging from +1 pt at Paris-CDG to +6 pts at Frankfurt and Madrid Barajas airports, as well as a +2 pt rise at Paris Orly and London Heathrow. Average prices are up everywhere, except near the Munich hub.
The CDS-MKG barometer also looks at the performance of the business hotel sector in France's major cities. The overall picture for the first five months of the year is positive, with slight increase in visitor numbers and average prices from one year to the next. Nice, in particular, saw its business hotels post a 5 point increase in occupancy and a 2% rise in average prices. Among the cities with lower occupancy rates are Cannes, Rouen and especially Lyon, where the occupancy rate reached 71%, compared with 73% last year, with average prices down by 3%.
