The Eiffel Tower in Paris had a bustling year, hosting 6.3 million visitors, as announced by its management company on Friday. This surpassed the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019, marking an eight percent increase.
The spike in visitors for the year was attributed to special events honoring the tower's designer, Gustave Eiffel, on the centenary of his passing. The SETE operating company revealed this in a statement, highlighting the additional attractions introduced by the tower, such as guided tours and gourmet meals prepared by celebrity chefs in its upscale restaurant.
Notably, the iconic "Iron Lady" achieved its peak with seven million visits in 2014 and 6.2 million five years later. However, the tower faced closures during the initial pandemic lockdown in France from March to June 2020 and again from October 2020 to July 2021.
Breaking down the visitor demographics, the largest share, 18.9 percent, was from France itself, followed closely by North Americans at 18 percent, with the United States contributing 13.2 percent individually. Non-French Europeans constituted 44 percent, with Germany, Britain, and Spain leading the numbers.
The year's Rugby World Cup also played a role in boosting visits, particularly from Oceania, including Australia and New Zealand.
This positive trend wasn't exclusive to the Eiffel Tower, as major museums in Paris, among the city's other top attractions, also saw a return to pre-Covid visitor numbers or, in some cases, even set new records in the past year.