On the heels of a tourism uptick – with 23 million tourist arrivals expected in 2017 – Paris, France is forecasting more growth in 2018 and is expecting its most successful year since 2008. Atout France shares a range of highly-anticipated, momentous occasions and new experiences for visitors to enjoy in 2018, including major sporting events, cultural exhibit openings, historic anniversaries and a slew of new luxury hotels.
Making the City of Light and the larger Paris region even easier to visit, many airlines are adding faster, more direct routes to Paris, including direct flights from Seattle on Air France and the first non-stop flights from Indianapolis on Delta Airlines. The city is also utilizing new tactics to help travelers feel more comfortable, including widespread complimentary WIFI in downtown areas, an improved city app, multi-lingual signage and announcements in the subway system, and roaming tour guides to help direct city explorers.
Whether an annual visitor or a newcomer to the city, Paris maintains its top spot as a bucket list destination with new developments and happenings including:
MAJOR EVENTS
• August: Held every four years, the Gay Games advocates for acceptance and celebrates diversity, respect and equality. More than 15,000 participants from 70 countries are expected to participate in the 10th edition of the games. Visitors and athletes from around the world can take part in more than 36 sports at exclusive facilities in Paris and the Ile-de-France region.
• September: Le Golf National (near Versailles) will host the 2018 Ryder Cup, one of the golf world’s signature events and the second time in history that the iconic golf tournament takes place in continental Europe.
• October: The bi-annual Paris Motor Show, Mondial de l’Automobile, will celebrate its 120th anniversary at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles trade fair grounds, welcoming car lovers and trade professionals from around the world.
CULTURAL OPENINGS
• New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Foundation Louis Vuitton have collaborated for the first MoMA exhibition in France. “Being Modern: MoMA in Paris” will be displayed at Foundation Louis Vuitton through March 2018 with masterworks by artists including Max Beckmann, Alexander Calder, Paul Cezanne, Marcel Duchamp, Walker Evans, and more.
• Corot et la figure at Marmottan Monet Museum: Featuring sixty masterpieces from public and private collections in Europe and the U.S., this 2018 exhibition (open February through July) organized by the Marmottan Monet Museum showcases original productions by the first modern landscaper: Camille Corot.
• Teatre La Scala, a French music hall and historic landmark that first opened in 1874, will reopen in March 2018 after a full renovation as a 550-seat theater with restaurant. The opening show will be entitled “Scala” by multi-disciplinary movement artist Yoann Bourgeois.
• The Lafayette Anticipations – Galeries Lafayette Corporate Foundation will debut in spring 2018, as a public gathering place dedicated to displaying and creating works of art. The Foundation aims to support contemporary artists from the visual arts to fashion, design and the performing arts.
• L’Atelier des Lumières is Paris’s first digital museum of fine art, located in a restored iron foundry. Opening spring 2018, the museum will include two areas for visitors: La Halle, with a continuous cycle of digital exhibitions, and Le Studio, for experienced or emerging artists. The opening will include an extended program focusing on Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, as well as a limited-time program on Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
• FlyView 360, a new concept of VR aerial simulator, will open in April 2018 at Place de l’Opéra offering dynamic flights over Paris.
• Galeries Lafayette is launching a new department store on the Champs-Elysées with 7,000-square meters worth of fashion designed by Danish firm BIG. 52 Champs-Élysées marks the site of a future flagship, positioned as an upmarket department store for the 21st century.
RESTAURANT OPENINGS
• Brasserie du Lutetia by three Michelin-starred chef Gérald Passedat, opens spring 2018 in a setting designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte at the newly renovated Lutetia Hotel.
• La Girafe, from the same family as La Maison du Caviar and Rasputin, brings a new rooftop dining experience to Cité de l’architecture in November.
• Eataly will continue global expansion with the opening of the first French flagship in a 43,055-square-foot building at Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie in the Marais.
• Guy Savoy is set to open his Metal Café at the brand new Musée National de la Monnaie.
ACCOMMODATION NEWS
• Early 2018:
o Hôtel Dress Code & Spa, located near Opera Garnier, will open with 33 rooms, indoor pool and spa, and a bar lounge.
o The first Paris hotel under the Curio Collection by Hilton brand will open with a photography theme, 42 rooms and 10 suites and”La Verrière” restaurant.
• Spring/Summer 2018:
o After a three-year renovation, the highly anticipated Lutetia by The Set Hotels will reopen with 184 rooms (previously 231), seven signature suites, an extended brasserie with open terrace, jazz bar and cigar bar. French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte designed a new courtyard, a 17-meter swimming pool and Akasha spa.
o Brach Paris, by Evok Hotels Collection group and designed by Philippe Starck, will open as a deluxe hotel in the 16th arrondissement with 59 rooms and suites with Eiffel Tower views, restaurant, bar, pastry shop, two pools, and rooftop vegetable garden.
o Hôtel de Berri by Marriott International, a 5-star hotel with 39 rooms and 37 suites, will open in a 1930s mansion off Champs-Élysées and will include a bar overlooking the garden, a restaurant, and a modern contemporary art collection.
• Fall/Late 2018:
o La Clef Champs-Élysées Paris, an apartment-style hotel, and the third property by The Crest Collection, opens in a quaint five-story Haussmann-style building along Rue de Bassano with 70 suites and a restaurant.
o Opening of the first Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriot, a 50-room hotel with conference center in the former Pentemont Abbey in the 7th arrondissement.
o Goralska Residences, a 25-suite hotel in the Castiglione / Vendôme area.
o The first Motel One in France, located in the 12th arrondissement.
o The first Hotel Fauchon with 54 rooms and suites, and 150-seat Café Fauchon with terrace.
o The second Okko Hotel, an innovative European hotel concept offering an all-inclusive rate (including movies, open bar, fitness, and more), opening near the Montparnasse station.
o Maison Albar, a luxury boutique hotel, near the Opéra Garnier, providing an elegant and authentic French experience.
o Grand Hotel de Chantilly in Avilly Saint Léonard on 10-acres of land with 210 rooms including 23 suites, seminar rooms, several restaurants and spa.
o Domaine Montcel in Jouy en Josas, near Versailles on 14-hectares with 180 rooms, swimming pool, restaurant, and 3,000-square-meters of meeting rooms.
o The first J.K. Place in Paris, a luxury hotel with an elegant contemporary atmosphere, will open at 82 rue de Lille.
ILE DE FRANCE REGION
• Southwest of Paris, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux and the Palace of Versailles are presenting an exhibition at Château de Rambouillet through January 2018 featuring portraits of the Bourbon-Toulouse-Penthièvre family, who owned Rambouillet during the 18th century.
• Creation of a river marina at l’Isle-Adam, to the north of Paris, on the edge of the largest river beach in France with 120 docks for boats, a range of shops and restaurants and a hotel.
• Creation of an urban transport museum in Chelles, to the east of Paris, with 150 trams, buses, trolley buses, omnibuses as well as uniforms, signs, 10,000 films and 300,000 photos.
• 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI and the signing of the armistice in Compiègne—not far from Paris and at the edge of the Paris Region. In honor of this momentous occasion, several events will take place in Paris and the Paris region and on the Western Front in Northern France.
o Ceremonies will be held at the Lafayette Squadron Memorial located in Marnes-la-Coquette, 11 miles east of Paris and on the way to Versailles, which honors the American volunteer pilots who flew in this unique squadron with the budding French air force during the Great War.
o The recently reopened and redesigned Franco-American Museum at the Château de Blerancourt in Picardy, features memorabilia of the famed WWI American Squadron. Created by Anne Morgan in her former WWI headquarters and residence.
