Olympic-averse tourists are costing Delta Air Lines $100 million, the carrier’s CEO has said, due to delaying their Paris travel dates until after summer 2024’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. Speaking to CNBC, Ed Bastian said the presence of the Olympics in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August was a turn off for many categories of flyers.
People avoid Paris
“Unless you’re going to the Olympics, people aren’t going to Paris … very few are,” he said. “Business travel, you know, other type of tourism is potentially going elsewhere.”
Delta has a partnership with Air France and flies more passengers from the US to the City of Lights than any other US carrier, but the 70% direct flight market share the pair boast is now being hit hard by the change in consumer behaviour prompted by the Olympics. Similar, parent company Air France-KLM, have announced a 180-million euro-downturn ($195.5 million) over the summer season.
An analysis by the Centre for Law and Economy of Sport (CDES) on behalf of Paris authorities and the International Olympic Committee anticipates 15 million Olympic attendees, including 2 million international visitors. But Statista reports that in 2023 domestic and inbound tourist arrivals in Paris and Île-de-France totalled 25.9 million and 21.6 million in 2023, that’s 47.5 million.
Hotel prices up 45%
If a significant portion of such visitors decide to avoid Paris in summer 2024, the city’s yearly figure could take a hit. And who could blame anyone for choosing to stay away, when, according to Hotel-data firm STR, the price for an “upscale” Paris hotel room has been hiked by an average of 45% year-on-year for the summer period.
“International markets show a significant avoidance of Paris,” says Delta. However recovery is likely, with both the airline and other industry stakeholders predicting that those deterred from going to Paris over the peak season will still go but will choose a different time of year.
“Travel between the city and other destinations is also below the usual June-August average as residents in France seem to be postponing their holidays until after the Olympic Games or considering alternative travel plans,” Delta added.
Summer season prolonged
The airline’s President Glen Hauenstein told shareholders in an earnings call last week that “We see the season extending as a whole group of people, whether or not it’s retirees, whether or not it’s people with double incomes and without children, who don’t have the school concerns,” he said. “It’s actually a better time to go to Europe in September and October than it is potentially in July and August when the weather is so hot and everything is so packed.”
And confirming that the aviation dollar is still being spent, even if it’s elsewhere, Hauenstein revealed Delta is seeing a surge in travel to Japan, which he put down to the current exchange rate conditions.
