JUNE 7, 2007

Why a Grand Prix at Versailles is not going to happen

There have been a few headlines today regarding a possible French Grand Prix at Versailles. It is a nice idea. Disneyland pulls in 12.4m visitors a year, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre both claim 6m and the Pompidou Centre (5m) but Versailles requires transportation from the city and so the annual number of visitors is only three million. However there are a large number of reasons why a race is unlikely to happen.

There have been a few headlines today regarding a possible French Grand Prix at Versailles. It is a nice idea. Disneyland pulls in 12.4m visitors a year, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre both claim 6m and the Pompidou Centre (5m) but Versailles requires transportation from the city and so the annual number of visitors is only three million. However there are a large number of reasons why a race is unlikely to happen.

The primary reason is that the Palace of Versailles and 2650 acres of land around it is a United Nations World Heritage Site and has been since 1979. In its most recent report on the palace the UN said that the principal threats come from over-development and too many tourists. If there were no alternatives there might be more chance of an event but the fact remains that there are a number of sites in the Paris area that could be used without any of the problems associated with Versailles.