With the Champions League final added to Ascension and Roland-Garros, demand for accommodation has reached an exceptional level in the capital. The last remaining rooms can exceed 1,000 euros in a 3-star. The increase is more modest on Airbnb.
Parisian tourism will not have lost everything in the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin: the organization of the final of the Football Champions League at the Stade de France, instead of Saint Petersburg, causes an explosion in hotel rates rarely seen in the capital. The match will pit Liverpool FC against Real Madrid on Saturday, May 28, two of the most-watched clubs in the world.
Although supporters only benefit from 31,200 places in total, they should be many more this weekend in Paris, hoping to find a ticket on the black market or to enjoy the party which is looming in the “fan zones” set up by UEFA, on the Cours de Vincennes for the English and near the Stade de France for the Spaniards. Around 50,000 Reds supporters are expected. Madrid residents will be fewer in number.
These figures are not insignificant for a city that, within the walls, has 85,000 hotel rooms and some 30,000 furnished tourist accommodations. Especially since this final comes in a general context of the return of urban tourism and an already buoyant weekend: Ascension Thursday is a public holiday in France and in several European countries, and Roland-Garros, the provider of high-end visitors’ income, is back in a normal configuration for the first time in three years. Two weeks before the final, the Parisian chain hotels, listed in the MKG barometer, were already 88% full, ten or fifteen points more than a normal weekend. This figure has dropped slightly in recent days due to cancellations, either from supporters who did not have places for the final or means of transport,
Yield management practice
Hoteliers and furnished tourist accommodation hosts did not hesitate to make the most of the situation, by displaying extraordinary prices driven by the practice, now unanimously used, of “yield management”, i.e. by adjusting prices according to supply and demand.
“There is nothing comparable, analyzes Vanguelis Panayotis, CEO of the consulting firm MKG. In Paris, only major international sporting events can drive prices up to this point, and they are not that frequent; in this case, I believe we are breaking all records. »
On the Booking.com site, Monday, May 23, 93% of Parisian hotels were no longer available. Of the 282 establishments still having a place between Friday and Sunday, the median price was 1,800 euros for two nights. For mid-range hotels (2 and 3 stars), the median price of rooms still available was 1,200 euros, three times more expensive than a normal weekend.
