Paris hotels angry over tourist tax hike ahead of Olympics

Paris hoteliers were up in arms on Tuesday over a government plan to triple the tax paid by visitors on nights at hotels next year when the capital hosts the Olympics.

Published: 19 December 2023 17:29 CET

Paris hotels angry over tourist tax hike ahead of Olympics

A hotel in Paris in August 2020 (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)

The tourist tax in Paris now varies from €0.25 a night for the most basic accommodation to €5 a night for luxurious establishments.

The government is to triple that fee as part of its 2024 budget, which it plans to ram through parliament without a vote before Christmas.

“It’s another blow for the competitiveness of our sector as well as France’s image at a time when all attention is on the Paris 2024 Olympics,” the UMIH hotel and restaurant union and GNC group of hotel chains said in a statement.

The government has said the 200-percent increase in the tourist tax will help fund public transport.

The syndicates claimed it would “amount to €423 million in tax collected a year — far more than the €200 million” the government and the regional transport authority have said they needed.

Catherine Querard, the president of GHR, another union representing the hospitality and catering sector, added: “The authorities fear a hike in hotel prices, but they’re sending the tax rate through the roof. Then they’ll come and blame us.”

Hotels have already increased their rates for a night during the Olympics from July 26 to August 11.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government is to invoke article 49.3 of the French constitution to pass its 2024 budget without a vote.

It does not have a majority following 2022 elections and has several times used the controversial mechanism, including to enact its highly disputed pension reform earlier this year despite months of protest.

The controversy comes after regional authorities announced a sharp rise in public transport tickets for the Games, sparking anger.

The regional transport authority is to near-double metro fares for single tickets and 10-ticket passes during the Olympics.

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Once a preferred spot for gala premieres, the UGC Normandie was one of several grand cinemas on the Champs-Elysées that made the area a hub for film buffs in the 1960s and 70s.

But the street long ago lost its cool among Parisians, becoming increasingly dominated by flagship fashion stores and tourists taking snaps of the Arc de Triomphe.

The UGC cinema chain said it faced a “very sharp increase in rent” at the location, which is owned by the Qatari royal family.

Two other famed cinemas on the boulevard, the George V and Gaumont Marignan, have closed since 2020.

“The cinema is disappearing in somewhat terrible circumstances for the whole culture,” said a former employee, 22-year-old Yann Raffin, adding that he feels both “sadness” and “anger”.

“This avenue is transforming into an avenue reserved for the ultra-rich,” he told AFP.

The last screening on Wednesday night was “La La Land” with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, a fitting tribute to Hollywood musicals of a bygone era.

Its director, Damien Chazelle, appeared on screen with a special message for the sold-out crowd.

“This room was an extension of my own life, it was a friend and an ally,” said Mehdi Omais, 40, a film journalist, visibly moved.

“It’s heartbreaking to see it close and to see this avenue becoming a cemetery of cinemas.”

An auction of the chairs and decor was due on Thursday, including the huge letters on the outside, with proceeds going to a charity that organises screenings for hospitalised children.

Paris remains a film-going hotspot and still has more cinemas per head than anywhere in the world, with swanky new theatres opening elsewhere in the city.

They include a state-of-the-art Pathe cinema near the Opera Garnier, designed by architect Renzo Piano who created the Pompidou Centre and The Shard in London.