The Eiffel Tower, put in financial difficulty by the health crisis, regained pre-Covid attendance levels in October and resumed its painting project, which must be completed for the 2024 Olympic Games. La Dame de Fer, which has reopened in July after nearly nine months of closure, had "
a beautiful month of October
" thanks to a "
real return of tourism
" in the capital, welcomes the company operating the Eiffel Tower (Sete) Thursday with from AFP.
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An improvement that did not slow down the introduction of the health pass in the middle of summer.
The Eiffel Tower, which offered antigenic tests for its visitors who do not have the precious QR code, will stop them on Sunday after having carried out 14,000 since July 21.
Its summer attendance stood at 13,000 visitors per day, against 25,000 in the pre-Covid era, the target target taking into account a 50% gauge in elevators.
From 14,000 on weekend days in September, the number of visitors increased to more than 20,000 in October, ie "
better than in 2019 on weekends
", indicates Sete which observes a "
return of nearby Europeans
" and Americans, the latter now constituting 10% of the clientele.
But with 1.5 million visitors anticipated for 2021 against 6.2 million in 2019, this gradual recovery "
will not cover the losses accumulated
" with the crisis, according to the same source.
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Among the most visited paid monuments in the world, this symbol of France had to close from mid-March to the end of June 2020, during the first confinement, then again from the end of October 2020 to mid-July 2021. Consequence: Sete plans 75 million euros of losses for the current year, after a first deficit of 52 million for 2020. Subject of a loan guaranteed by the State - 25 million euros - and a recapitalization of its main shareholder , the mayor of Paris, of nearly 60 million euros, the operator has made several requests for help, especially from the State. "
Discussions are underway
With Matignon, he says.
Suspended since the beginning of February due to traces of lead above the regulatory threshold, the painting project in progress resumed on October 11 with a new protocol, also indicates Sete.