The Paris 2024 Olympics have been, by many accounts, a resounding success, so far.

But there are some groups who are not exactly happy, or have not benefitted as they had hoped from the two weeks of sporting drama that has seen an estimated 15 million visitors descend on the French capital for the Games.

Here are some of those who have lost out (and it’s not all bad news):

The pessimists and naysayers 

For several weeks and months leading up to the Olympic Games, headlines focused on Parisians’ anxiety over the event. 

Swathes of the city’s usual residents promised to escape Paris – and the chaos they predicted – for the countryside. And while many Parisians did leave the city, French fans overall appear to have let go of any doom and gloom that coloured initial predictions of the games. 

They have been excited, happily singing their national anthem and helping to create a fun and welcoming atmosphere, while the Olympics itself has so far gone off without any major issues.

The bold opening ceremony along the Seine was joyful, exhibiting some of France’s best attributes with nods to the country’s unique culture and history. On top of that, the Paris Olympics has even set new records in terms of tickets sold.

READ MORE: Are the Paris Olympics doing the unthinkable and making the French happy?

Taxi drivers

Taxi unions have called the Games “hugely disappointing” for the 20,000 drivers of licensed taxis in Paris.

A lot of frustration has centred around the security zones and road closures that began several weeks prior to the start of the Games, in Paris as well as other cities hosting Olympic events, such as Marseille.

Road closures and disruption will continue until the end of the Paralympic Games in September, as a result of security zones set up around Games venues in central Paris.

The unions wrote a letter to the French transport ministry, outlining how the number of additional visitors drawn by the Olympics has failed to make up for “the impact of traffic restrictions, the closure of venues and the impact from usual customers staying away”, according to AFP.

Some drivers have reportedly seen their income fall by 40 or 50 percent, which has pushed unions to demand that the government create a “compensation fund” to help cover income lost.

READ MORE: What you need to know about taking a taxi in Paris

Paris shops and restaurants

The picture is mixed for shopkeepers and restaurant owners in the capital, some of whom have complained that they have not benefitted from the rise in tourism, particularly those who were impacted by the security zones prior to the opening ceremony.

Official figures from the tourism office show that overall there have been 20 percent more visitors to the Paris region in July 2024 compared to July 2023, Franceinfo reported. 

However, the French daily noted that the primary winners from the tourism have been 5-star hotels, as well as terraces and restaurants near Olympics venues, while locations outside of these sites have complained they have not benefitted as much.

Additionally, shopkeepers and restaurant owners in the central Paris ‘grey’ and ‘red’ security zones saw significant downturns in profits in early-mid July.

In the first four days after the security zones were introduced, business owners in these strict security areas along the Seine said they had seen “business drop by 40 percent for restaurants and up to 80 percent for shops and other businesses”, Frank Delvau the head of the hospitality union UMIH told 20 Minutes.

Generally, it is not uncommon for host cities to see lower revenue in local shops and restaurants, according to Marie Delaplace, a professor with the Gustave Eiffel University and researcher with the observatory for large-scale events.

Delaplace told Nouvel Obs that the majority of visitors’ spending is on tickets and accommodation, and that “Olympic tourists consume on average twice as much as regular tourists in a territory. But these tourists do not necessarily consume in the restaurants and shops of the host city.

“In addition, these tourists attend the competitions and purchase things (products, food, etc) inside of the sports venues or on site,” she explained. 

French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, recently announced creation of a compensation commission to help tradespeople and small business owners who were harmed by the Olympic Games.

Disneyland Paris (but not the visitors)

Some might rejoice at the short queues at Disneyland Paris, with one visitor, Téo, telling Le Parisien that “normally at this time of year, we can do a maximum of five or six attractions in a day. Right now, we have already done Space Mountain three times because the wait is just 15 minutes. Usually it’s 40 minutes.”

Park employees told the French daily that there have been low visitor numbers since tourists started arriving in the capital for the Olympic Games. 

While Disneyland management did not comment on the situation, Le Parisien reporters noted that the RER A (the commuter train running to the park) “emptied out at the Bussy-Saint-Georges station, near the rowing and canoeing events organized in Vaires-sur-Marne.

“Tourists who came to Paris this summer are clearly focusing on the Olympic Games,” they wrote.

On the other hand, one of Disney’s competitors, the French Parc Astérix, which attracts mostly French visitors, told the daily they were “packed”, due to the fact they rely less on foreign visitors.

The left-wing political alliance

On the politics side, many people seem to have forgotten that just a few weeks ago, French President Emmanuel Macron surprised the nation by dissolving parliament and calling snap elections.

This led to a result where no party won an absolute majority, but the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) alliance did emerge as the largest grouping, followed by Macron’s centrists and the far-right in third place.

The NFP finally managed to come up with a consensus candidate to propose to Macron for the role of prime minister, just a few days before the start of the Games.

However, Macron dismissed their push to name a new PM, calling for a trêve olympique (Olympic truce) during the Games.

Despite initial backlash from the left, Macron’s ‘truce’ seems to have taken effect, with public attention and the French media squarely focused on the Olympics and away from parliament. 

The French left are still demanding Macron gives them the right to govern, meanwhile his outgoing government all seem to be enjoying the live sport. The tweet below shows the French PM Gabriel Attal and sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera at the table tennis.

🇫🇷🏓 Un Premier Ministre qui vibre derrière nos athlètes !

— @GabrielAttal et Amélie Oudéa-Castera assistaient cet après-midi au match exceptionnel de Félix Lebrun.

À 17 ans, le Montpelliérain a décroché sa place en demi-finale de tennis de table de #Paris2024 ! pic.twitter.com/OpYUyoZzVh

— Gabriel Attal Actu (Compte Fan) (@GAttalActu) August 1, 2024

The criminals

With 45,000 police and gendarmes deployed during the Games, the security presence is palpable.

According to the latest stats from the interior ministry, reported by Ouest France, during the week from July 22 to July 28th, certain crime rates have dramatically decreased.

Violent thefts in Île-de-France were down by 24 percent compared to the previous week, while vehicle theft went down by seven percent and break-ins were down by four percent. Incidents of violence on public transport had fallen 40 percent.

Les #JeuxOlympiques, c’est aussi plus de sécurité au quotidien pour les Français. Aux côtés des policiers de Saint-Denis, j’ai rappelé la baisse significative des chiffres de la délinquance en Île-de-France :
✅ -25% de vols avec violences
✅ -40% de violences dans les… pic.twitter.com/ebSHVcbH9B

— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 2, 2024

However, not everyone is happy about the large police presence, and the interior ministry reported a 15 percent increase in ‘insults toward the police’.

There has also been a small increase in non-violent crime (petty theft) of seven percent, so not all thieves have been dissuaded by the security forces.