Spending on food and groceries was up 42% in Paris over the first weekend of the Olympic Games, new data from Visa has shown.
Visa, which is one of the main sponsors of both the Olympics and Paralympics, shared data on consumer spending patterns as the Games kicked off, and found that small businesses saw a 26% year-on-year increase in sales during the first weekend of competition, from 26 to 28 July.
A significant increase in spend was seen in theatres and museums (+159%), restaurants (+36%), other retail (+21%), and entertainment (+18%), Visa noted.
In addition, the largest share of overseas spend during the opening days of the Games came from U.S. cardholders (29%), although significant increases in spend were also seen among those from Brazil (+33%) and Japan (+129%).
'Signifiant Increase'
"Our latest data shows a significant increase in consumer spending among Visa cardholders during the Opening Ceremony Weekend," commented Charlotte Hogg, chief executive officer of Visa Europe. "“We’re particularly pleased to see the uptick in spending at French small businesses, after we helped 13 million of them digitise over the last four years in Europe.
“The increased engagement of younger generations, which we see in the travel data, is also an exciting finding and shows the reach and relevance of the Games today and into the future.”
Other Cities
Spend was also up in other French cities hosting Paris 2024 events, with Saint-Etienne (+214%), Lille (+100%) and Marseille (+38%) all seeing notable increases.
Other data from the opening weekend indicates that 78% of international purchases in Paris were contactless, a 9% increase year-on-year, while there was a 39% increase in flight bookings to Paris in the lead up to the Games, compared to the same period in 2023.
