A new partner, EDF, is at the top of the national marketing program. A first list of 500 municipalities labeled “Terre de Jeux”, presented Wednesday November 20. A contingent of 27 departments, also equipped with the same label, announced this Thursday. The week looked promising for Paris 2024. However, it took a strange turn.
In question, the IOC. On Monday, November 18, the Olympic organization announced the arrival of a new partner within its jewel, the TOP global marketing program. The American Airbnb joins the elite sponsors of the movement. According to several sources, his presence would be accompanied by a check for 500 million dollars. A great deal.
The only problem, but a major one: Paris doesn't want it. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of the capital, cries scandal. She's not the only one. French hoteliers are also making themselves heard. Predictable. On Wednesday November 20, they announced “ suspend their participation” to the organization of the Paris 2024 Games.
Laurent Duc, president of the hotel branch of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (Umih), explained this to the'AFP : " Hoteliers will suspend their participation in the organization of the 2024 Olympic Games. Already, the platform (Airbnb) is reluctant to transmit the tourist tax with clear addresses and identified taxpayers, as the law requires it to do from January 1. »
Bad timing: the announcement of the partnership between the IOC and Airbnb came in the middle of the Umih annual congress, this week in Biarritz. Hoteliers were thus able to express a collective position without delay. They denounced an agreement “ totally disrespectful to hospitality professionals. »
For Roland Héguy, the president of Umih, he is “ outrageous to make this company which plays on deregulation in all countries of the world a global partner of the IOC. » Another hotel union, the GNI, calls for “ disqualify » the Californian platform. He announces his intention to seize the COJO Paris 2024 and even, come on, the IOC ethics committee.
In fact, the position of hoteliers will not change the course of history. Not yet. Professionals in the sector will be content to no longer attend preparatory meetings, pending clarification. But it should seriously disrupt the work of the COJO Paris 2024 to compose its hotel portfolio.
The Parisian team began discussions with Umih this year. Objective: secure as many hotel rooms as possible for delegations, partners, officials and the media. According to Tony Estanguet, 618 hotels have already been selected, in Paris and eight regional metropolises.
By announcing their decision to suspend their participation in the preparation of the Paris 2024 Games, French hoteliers are not only threatening the OCOG's schedule. They could also slow down the delicate work of finding partners.
According to certain sources, Paris 2024 should indeed announce in the coming weeks the signing of a third partnership agreement with a premium sponsor. This would be the Accor hotel group. In such a context, his announcement would come at the worst time.
The rest promises to be tough. Anne Hidalgo will certainly not turn back. Her first deputy, Emmanuel Grégoire, explained at the start of the week the intention of the mayor of Paris to organize during next summer, in the event of re-election in March 2020, a referendum on the presence of Airbnb in the capital.
Faced with such opposition, the IOC risks running out of room to maneuver. Certainly, Olympic law makes it possible to guarantee brands in the global TOP program an advertising presence on competition sites. In Paris as elsewhere. But it does not have the power to modify the regulations of a city in terms of housing, tourist or residential.
Clearly, the IOC cannot guarantee Airbnb, even in exchange for a jackpot of $500 million, that the host cities of the Games will roll out the red carpet for it. Airbnb knows this. The American platform has already started lobbying work in Japan, with the ambition of obtaining exceptions for the Tokyo 2020 Games to a law limiting its activity. She will also have to stick to it in Paris. Good luck.
