By Benjamin Raoult
Paris 2024. The Olympics take over the modern city. More than 500,000 tourists visited Rio de Janeiro for the games in 2016. One might think that with this immense rise in tourism, would come an immense rise in economic acIvity, surely a posiIve impact for local businesses. However, this is most of the Ime not the case. According to InterfaceTourism France, "Professionals of the tourism industry all agreed: a spectator spending most of his day at the stadium is not a tourist who visits and spends." This means that though there might be larger profits for airlines who are transporIng people to Paris, once there these tourists might not be spending enough to create a large impact. Hosting the games is a feat in itself. Though the Olympics themselves bring more tourism and acIvity during the games, oRenImes like in Rio, it didn't last very long. On the other hand, the 1992 games in Barcelona did spring long-term growth, and it had more than a posiIve impact. Furthermore, in London 2012, many leR London due to anIcipaIon of the rise in prices, and the Ickets sold for the games parIally made up for the costs. So though one might think that the Olympics solely brings economic good to the host city, this can or cannot be the case. In the case of Barcelona in 1992, the Olympics happened to be the exact necessity to kickstart significant growth. In Rio, there was some short-term growth but possibly not much long-term. And lastly, London, actually incurred losses due to the Games. So, though you as a tourist might be thrilled for the Games, local residents and business owners might not share that same joy with you.
Works Cited:
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