Luxury retailers in European cities are vying for the patronage of affluent tourists this summer. They are banking on a spike in travelers evading the crush and road closures in Paris during the Olympic Games.
On Friday, Cartier CEO Cyril Vigneron stated that “Paris will probably be slow.” Meanwhile, locations like London, Milan, or Barcelona may see an increase in traffic during the event.
According to Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, the Summer Games, which take place in Paris from July 26 to August 11, are perhaps “not the right time to organise a very important high jewellery celebration.” “But we will keep the stores open and be very happy to welcome sports amateurs,” he stated.
The executives of the jewelry brands controlled by Richemont can speak from personal experience. They claimed that while the London 2012 Olympics were “neutral” for their company overall, they did see some serious customers visit their Parisian boutiques. They anticipate a similar pattern this year and will concentrate on meeting their affluent clients wherever they may be found.
The biggest luxury conglomerate in the world, LVMH, is likewise basing its hopes on its performance in the Olympics in Beijing and London.
According to LVMH Chief Financial Officer Jean Jacques Guiony, “it’s usually quite neutral – although it makes our life a little bit more complicated when it comes to supplying products into our stores.”
Last week, Paris 2024 commissioned a paper suggesting a “crowding out” impact, where people who had planned to visit Paris may opt to travel elsewhere. Although difficult to assess and predict, this phenomenon poses potential challenges.
The Federation de la Haute Couture et la Mode, France’s regulating body of fashion, has pushed ahead the fall 2024 haute couture fashion shows by one week. This change aligns the event with the menswear spring 2025 ready-to-wear events that immediately precede it. Due to the anticipated congestion caused by the last Olympic preparations, the organizers have decided to double the shuttle services between shows.
However, Carlo Capasa, chairman of Italy’s National Fashion Chamber, stated that some fashion labels will only have showroom presentations in Milan this season because of “logistical difficulties because of the Olympics”.
As UK tax-free shopping comes to an end, London retailers, who have already suffered from a decline in tourist traffic, are seeking to win over Parisians. Plans are already underway at venerable establishments like Selfridges and Harrods. Harrods’ managing director Michael Ward stated, “Paris has already been taken off the Chinese tour guide lists for this summer.” Ward anticipates a significant boost. “We’ve got to curate the product, we’ve got to be absolutely on our game to handle it,” Ward stated.
The department store hopes to attract customers with the opening of its new Tiffany & Co. fine jewelry boutique, designer pop-ups, and special merchandise. Additionally, two brand-new 175th-anniversary teddy bears created by Italian jewelry brand Bulgari and beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury will be available.
Selfridges plans to attract local as well as international visitors with sporting events such as a running club and is beefing up its offer of sportswear products.
CEO Andrew Keith stated, “We are getting ready for a huge celebration of sport.”
Barcelona, on the other hand, is marketing itself as a relaxed substitute for Paris’s hectic Olympic vibe.
The Spanish retail and food sector association AECOC told Reuters that “Spain can offer a more relaxed leisure and consumer experience than that which, for weeks, the host city and country of the Games will have.”
The majority of the Games will take place in locations across the French capital, but some visitors—including those from the United States—plan to extend their travels to see other European nations.
“U.S. travel data appears to imply a halo effect, as in addition to an increase in bookings in France for the Olympics, our data reflects an amplification of intra-European travel by Americans in Europe to certain destinations, such as Spain, Germany and Italy,” eDreams, a travel agency, told Reuters.
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