They will be front and center on July 26 for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The Parisian barges will make up almost the entire convoy of around a hundred boats which will parade between the Austerlitz and Jena bridges, and in mondovision, with the delegations of athletes on board. A certain number of commercial barges (accommodating restaurants, bars, etc.) will also be mobilized by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee (Cojop) to welcome spectators, along the quays where they are moored. But this privileged position, as close as possible to the river parade, does not go without causing some tensions.
Cojop signed contracts with the owners of seven commercial barges to transform them into VIP reception areas that day. An operation carried out through the American company On Location, exclusive supplier of “hospitality” for the Games (high-end ticketing, transport, accommodation, catering services, etc.).
The owners of three or four boats, however, according to several sources, refused to register within this framework. As a result, Paris 2024 wants to have them closed on the day of the ceremony. The organizers of the Games do not want the revenue from the sale, at high prices, of the prime places that these barges located on the parade route can offer to escape them.
When asked, the management of Cojop initially declared, on Tuesday, that the barges “who have not signed a contract will have to close”, without confirming or denying the figure of three or four boats concerned. On Wednesday, Paris 2024 clarified that“to date, only one boat has refused” to sign with On Location and that “the others have not yet been requested because the needs are covered with the seven boats already contracted”.
Eight boats were contacted, seven signed contracts, one refused, it was also explained on Wednesday by On Location, while not wishing to comment on the question of the closure request, which goes beyond On Location. “Discussions are still ongoing with the prefecture” on this subject, we explained to the management of Paris 2024, Tuesday.
“Penalize economic life as little as possible”
On the side of the Ministry of National Education, Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we say we understand that the situation poses a problem for Paris 2024. However, we also recall that, if a closure of these boats were to be imposed, this should lead to compensation, and that the decision to close or not the establishments concerned rests with the Paris Police Prefecture.
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