Chinese and Japanese Travelers Lead Paris Olympics Surge

Sports fans from China and Japan lead the influx of Asia-Pacific travelers to Paris for the Summer Olympics, with significant increases in travel from these countries during the Games, according to travel analytics firm ForwardKeys.

Japan tops the medal tally with six golds, including judo and fencing, while China and South Korea each have five golds, excelling in shooting. Travelers from China and Japan show the biggest gains in premium travel bookings, with Chinese tourists leading in suite and king-size hotel room reservations on Trip.com. The average spending per Chinese tourist has increased by 65 percent, with a rise in five-star hotel bookings.

Online platforms Trip.com and Fliggy report a surge in travel from mainland China to France. Despite these increases, overall international visitors to Paris during the Olympics have fallen short of expectations, with only 1.5 million of the anticipated 11.3 million visitors being international, according to the city’s tourism board.

Economic factors, such as the depreciation of the Japanese yen and high travel costs, have limited more travel to the Olympics, said Nan Dai, ForwardKeys’ China market analyst. Asian visitors tend to combine sports viewing with broader travel plans, booking longer hotel stays than Europeans, with a 20 percent increase in average stay length for Asian travelers in Paris during July and August.

June Xu from Anhui, China, and her husband planned a 16-day trip around the Olympics, including visits to Cannes, Nice, and Monaco, spending approximately 300,000 yuan (US$41,000). “Paris is more enchanting than other European cities,” she said. “Everything’s exquisite, from dining to the hotels and transport. It’s luxurious.”