They Expected An Olympic Boon. But These Paris Businesses Are Experiencing A Bust.

One factor is believed to be the major security measures that have tourists encountering metal fences, police checkpoints and demands for a special QR code.

PARIS (AP) — On a typical summer day, tourists flock to the historic Marais district of Paris, wandering its charming medieval streets dotted with ultra-chic boutiques, gazing at stunning private mansions, strolling through the elegant 17th-century square Place des Vosges, and filling humming restaurants and bars.

But this summer has hardly been typical, and those streets, shops and cafes have been markedly emptier in the days leading up to the Paris Olympics — leaving businesses like Stolly’s Stone Bar, a pub popular with English speakers, pining for summers past.

It’s a far cry from what business owners expected when they first heard the Olympics were coming to Paris, says David Carroll, who stood behind the bar on a recent, slow weekday.

“It’s sure not the Olympics we were hoping for — so far, anyway,” said Carroll, a Canadian who has been working in the neighborhood for 20 years. “It’s the same for everyone around here.”

Carroll attributes the light crowds to multiple factors, but first and foremost the chilling effect from security measures that have had tourists encountering metal fences, police checkpoints and demands for a special QR code that they may have neglected to obtain — a digital pass required to access some popular areas before Friday’s highly secured opening ceremony along the Seine River.