The Eiffel Tower lost approximately 120 million euros during the COVID-19 epidemic (data map)
Paris:
France’s Eiffel Tower will reopen on Sunday after being closed for five days due to a strike, after the monument’s managers announced they had reached an agreement with unions.
Work at one of the world’s most famous tourist attractions has been halted since Monday for the second time in two months in protest at what unions say is insufficient investment.
SETE, the tower’s operator, said it had reached an agreement with the union on Saturday “under which both parties will regularly monitor the company’s business model, engineering investments and revenues through a body that meets every six months”.
In order to achieve a balance of payments by 2025, the parties also agreed to invest approximately 380 million euros in the engineering and maintenance of the tower by 2031, the statement said.
SETE apologized for the loss of approximately 100,000 tourists caused by the strike action.
The Eiffel Tower suffered a shortfall of approximately 120 million euros ($130 million) during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
SETE has since been offered €60 million to recapitalize, but the union said this was not enough given the need for major maintenance work including a new paint job.
Visitor numbers fell sharply during the coronavirus pandemic due to lockdowns and travel restrictions, but recovered to 5.9 million in 2022 and 6.3 million last year.
This masterpiece designed by architect Gustave Eiffel has been repainted 19 times since it was built for the 1889 World’s Fair.
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