Millions of people will flock to the French capital city of Paris for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in less than one month. Due to its proximity, there were hopes this could have a knock-on effect on tourism in Brussels – yet it remains uncertain that the games will lead to more visitors this summer.
Europe's city of lights will this summer become the city of sports during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. While the French capital is at most times a tourist favourite, the number of nights booked in the region at the end of July and August is around five times higher than in the same period last year. Aside from Paris, Nice, Colombes, Nantes, Argenteuil, Lille and Clichy, among others, are also expecting floods of tourists and sports lovers because of the disciplines that will take place there.
With the Belgian capital being only 1 hour and 22 minutes from Paris by train and boosted by extortionate hotel room prices in the French capital, the Brussels-Capital Region as well as key players in its tourism industry were hoping to capitalise on the success of the Olympics.
"This summer, the eyes of the world will be on Paris and its 2024 Olympic Games. This international attention and the tourism it generates are obviously a godsend for Brussels," Delphine Houba, the Deputy Mayor for Culture, Tourism and Major Events for the City of Brussels, told The Brussels Times.
"The French capital is expecting millions of tourists during the event, and Brussels is positioning itself as a complementary destination for their journey."
Generating attention
The region actively tried to bring Brussels to the attention of people travelling to Paris in connection with the Olympics. The region's tourism promotion and communications agency, visit.brussels, worked out a campaign to put the spotlight on the Belgian capital to try and generate publicity and encourage people to extend their holiday in the area with a city trip to Brussels, for example.
"Like every year, we are running a summer campaign in which we focus on several markets and target audiences, including the French market," Jeroen Roppe, the agency's spokesperson told The Brussels Times. These promotions present Brussels as an interesting destination for a city trip in the summer by putting a spotlight on restaurants and exhibitions, among others.
He added that it isn't the region's intention to compete with Paris. "We see Brussels as a place where visitors can come before, during or after the Olympics."
Gare du Nord station in Paris. Photo by Helen Lyons/The Brussels Times.
Meanwhile, Belgian national railway operator SNCB has stepped up its train services between Paris and Brussels. Two direct trains (one early morning and one early afternoon) will run daily between Brussels-Midi and Paris Gare du Nord from 24 July to 11 August, when the Olympic Games will take place. For the Paralympics, one train (early morning) will run between the two capitals from 28 August to 8 September.
"To keep the many city-trippers we are expecting on our streets enthralled, we have also planned a rich and varied programme of events in the heart of the capital," Houba said. This includes Vaux-Hall Summer, 'Plaisirs d'Eté', the Flower Carpet and open-air parties all over the city."
Last-minute hope
The efforts to sell Brussels abroad have, however, not yet been reflected in a rising number of overnight stays, Brussels Hotels Association said. "For now, it seems to have been in vain," Willem Van der Zee, the organisation's president, told The Brussels Times. "The availability is here: we have the rooms, our prices are reasonable, but we do not yet see an overflow from Paris to Brussels in response to the Olympics."
He did note that it may still be early days and that it is possible people will book last-minute trips in August. Roppe also remained hopeful that some of the millions of tourists trekking to Paris would make a stop in Brussels. "But how big that impact will be is difficult to say at the moment."
In the meantime, several events that would normally take place in Paris are now happening in Brussels because of the games, particularly conferences. A major Cryptocurrency event that was expected to take place in the French capital will now welcome visitors in Brussels, for example.
"This does help for tourism figures in July," Van der Zee said. Many hotels are also well-filled thanks to the two weekends of Tomorrowland and the Formula Grand 1 Prix of Belgium in Spa-Francochamps.
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However, this month overall won't be better than previous Julys, and August was the month of hope. "But now, it seems the month of August might be a bit disappointing compared to previous years. This is also due to the fact that no large concerts are scheduled in the Heyzel." In August 2022, major pop band Coldplay played sold-out concerts in Brussels several nights in a row, while in 2023, Germany's Rammstein took to the stadium stage.
"But this August, no such major concert is planned. Taylor Swift has left us by the wayside on her tour, which is unfortunate, you just have to see what that triggers in other cities." Here, he referred to the so-called "Taylor tourism effect" which has seen hotels in cities where the singer is performing breaking occupancy records.
