Paris' restaurants are still not feeling the promised Olympic benefit
After a massive slump in June and July due to security measures, some businesses near the capital's competition sites are only now seeing an uptick in visitor numbers.
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00:00On a typical weekday, this Greek restaurant, just a couple of hundred meters away from
00:07the Eiffel Tower, usually sees a massive queue winding down the street.
00:12More than 15 million visitors were expected in the French capital during these Paris Olympics.
00:17But the promised boon hasn't happened, according to this restaurant owner.
00:22We've been preparing for a year now to receive these tourists we've been waiting for for a year.
00:28We recruit, we refuse vacations, etc. to the staff.
00:31And in fact, we realized that in June, July, we had a sharp drop in attendance,
00:36going from minus 30 to minus 60 percent on some days.
00:39But we will say that since the beginning of the tests, we still have a slight increase
00:45compared to previous seasons, which still allows to smoothen this activity a little bit.
00:50Close to some of the major competition sites, restrictions ahead of the games
00:55have limited movement in this area, making it difficult for tourists to access
01:00and pushing many residents to flee the capital.
01:03This classic French restaurant, a couple of streets away,
01:06had to remove its terrace due to security measures,
01:09losing approximately 62 percent of its seating capacity.
01:20In order to make up for the losses, the restaurant raised its prices by more than 30 percent.
01:38But not everyone is complaining.
01:40This restaurant owner in the same area claims that they have been full since the start of the games.
01:51Compared to the same period, there is a slight increase of maybe 20 percent,
01:57maybe 30 on some days.
02:00That's it.
02:01After that, it's really about the period of the games.
02:03After that, previously, in June, July, there was a drop of between 30 and 40 percent
02:08compared to the previous year.
02:10That's it.
02:10But for us, in any case, the period of the games is rather positive.
02:16According to an initial estimate from Choose Paris, the capital tourism agency,
02:21the city has seen a 20 percent increase in visitors at the end of July
02:26compared to the previous year.
02:28Sofia Katsenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.