By Robert Blaszczyk
How much do you have to spend to go to the Olympics in Paris
NBA stars, tennis champions, athletics – the queen of sport – and a myriad of other top-level sports, all in one of Europe’s most beautiful capitals. There are plenty of reasons for fans to head to Paris for the Olympic Games between 26 July and 11 August. We advise you on how to get to the sporting arenas and how much travel, hotels, and on-site living might cost.
Tickets for the Olympic Games
The organisers of the XXXIII Summer Olympics in Paris prepared nearly 10 million tickets for individual events. Mostly, they were sold out months before the athletes began competing, even though the prices may have seemed high. The best seats for the final basketball game cost 980 EUR each, which is about 1.6 million Nigerian naira. The athletics or swimming final sessions were equally expensive, but that was still not much compared to the premium tickets for the opening ceremony. The most expensive seats were priced at 2,700 EUR or 4.4 million naira. Of course, the rival Olympic athletes can also be admired by paying much less. Cheaper tickets for canoeing, for example, were priced at 79 EUR (about 129,000 NGN), and the least attractive seats for the closing ceremony were priced at 45 EUR (about 73,400 NGN).
“The official ticket distribution channel paris24tickets.com is still available to hunt for seats, where reservations are released for various reasons. Tickets are also available on services not authorised by The International Olympic Committee,” points out Robert Blaszczyk, Head of Strategic Client Department at fintech Conotoxia.
Prices in Paris
Average prices and cost of living in Paris are much higher than in Nigeria. Examples from supermarkets: a litre of milk in the store – 1.40 EUR (about 2.3 thousand NGN), 12 eggs – 4.7 EUR (about 7.7 thousand NGN), a 1.5-litre bottle of mineral water – 0.95 EUR (about 1.5 thousand NGN), beer – 2.3 EUR (about 3.75 thousand NGN). For a meal for two in a medium-priced restaurant, you will pay around 70 EUR (114 thousand NGN), a set in a fast food chain costs 12 EUR (about 19.5 thousand NGN), a coffee in a cafe – 4.3 EUR (about 7 thousand NGN), and a beer in a pub – 7 EUR (about 11.4 thousand NGN).
During the Olympic Games, one must expect increased prices for accommodation. For a weekend stay for two people (including the event ceremony), it is difficult to find offers below 750 thousand NGN, proposals twice as expensive prevail – from 1.5 million NGN, or more than 900 EUR.
“Transport also seems relatively expensive. A several-kilometre taxi ride is an expense of several euros, renting a car for 24 hours – about 30 EUR (about 49 thousand NGN), and a ticket for a single ride on public transport costs 2.15 EUR (about NGN 3.5 thousand),” the Conotoxia expert calculates.
To celebrate the Olympics, fans can benefit from the Paris 2024 Pass, a card that allows unlimited rides. Options will be available for one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven days. Prices range from 16 to 70 EUR (26,117-114,264 naira).
The app will show the way
All the Olympic venues (25 of them – 13 in Paris and 12 on the outskirts) will be connected by a mass public transport system capable of carrying 500,000 people daily. The Transport Public Paris 2024 app, specially developed for the Olympics and available in six languages (French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian), should prove very useful for using the underground, buses and trams. It will suggest the best routes for fans and provide real-time information on traffic jams. It will also enable the purchase of virtual tickets on both Android and iOS devices. There are also expected to be 400 free buses moving fans along potentially the most popular routes.
Be careful where you exchange your currency
France has been a member of the Eurozone for more than 20 years, and the average exchange rate of the European currency remains at around 1,618.80 NGN.
“When exchanging naira to euros, it’s worth avoiding mistakes that can increase the cost of your trip. Stationary exchange offices, especially those at airports or in city centres, often offer unfavourable rates and high spreads, i.e. the difference between the purchase and sale price of the currency. Using an ordinary debit or credit card abroad for non-cash payments also exposes you to uncontrollable commissions. A multi-currency card seems to be a much more convenient and advantageous way to pay in other countries. You can top it up on an ongoing basis, keeping your expenses in check, but also withdraw money from ATMs with it. Cash can come in handy, for example, in some Parisian bars, restaurants or bakeries, where it is not possible to pay by card,” warns Robert Blaszczyk of Conotoxia.
Sports fans heading to Paris who prefer cashless payments should remember that VISA remains the exclusive payment technology partner and the only card accepted at the Olympic and Paralympic Games until 2032.
Budget for an Olympic weekend or week
Two people will fly from Abuja to Paris and back for about 2.8 million NGN. They will spend about 1.6 million NGN on two nights’ accommodation during the Olympics, food, transportation and the purchase of small Olympic souvenirs. A separate issue seems to be tickets to the Olympic arenas, where expenses can range from 100 to 1,000 euros, or about 163,000 NGN to about 1.63 million NGN. If time permits, you should include a budget for sightseeing in Paris as well, such as an ascent of the iconic Eiffel Tower – about 29.4 EUR (about 48 thousand NGN). In total, an average budget of about 2.2-2.6 million NGN can be estimated. A week-long stay cheering on the Games and exploring the attractions of the French capital could prove to be more than twice as expensive, reaching about 4.5-5.5 million Nigerian naira for two people.
Robert Blaszczyk works with Conotoxia
Dipo Olowookere
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