For the occasion, On Location pulled out all the stops. An abandoned building from 10e Parisian district converted into an event showroom with DJ sets, basketball demonstrations, tastings of recipes concocted by great chefs of French gastronomy, including the two-star Stéphanie Le Quellec… The official and exclusive hospitality provider during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games presented, on April 23, a sample of its offers combining competition tickets and high-end services (catering, hotels, etc.).
A taste of “French excellence”, praised Fabrice Favetto Bon, which nevertheless leaves a sweet and sour taste in the mouth of the general director of France of On Location. Sales of these VIP packages, although increasing since the start of 2024, are struggling to achieve the objectives set, he admitted.
On Location refuses to communicate precise figures. The society, which hopes sell 750,000 tickets for the Olympics (180,000 for the Paralympics), says he underestimated last-minute purchases, a trend that has been accentuated since the Covid-19 pandemic in the tourism sector. “It’s a new model [d’hospitalités] which must develop. And, as with any first, we have good surprises and not so good ones, but we adapt”assures Fabrice Favetto Bon.
This nevertheless has an impact on the level of financial commitments: the variable part that the subsidiary of the American entertainment group Endeavor must pay to the Organizing Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games (Cojop) in the event of sales above forecasts was reduced by 10 million euros in the latest budget revision of Cojop, at the end of 2023. The minimum amount paid by On Location in Paris 2024 remains guaranteed at 230 million dollars (nearly 215 million euros).
Jump in sales since the start of 2024
Fabrice Favetto Bon explains that, for six months, discussions have been constant with Paris 2024. “We take tickets back from them or give them back”, he states. Sales have seen a jump since the start of the year, according to the manager, who cites a record broken on April 17, 100 days before the start of the Olympics, during which Paris 2024 sold 250,000 additional tickets. “We made three times more sales than an average day in 2023”underlines Fabrice Favetto Bon.
In addition to Covid-19, the Sapin 2 law, passed in 2016 to fight corruption, does not help sell lodge spaces for large companies, a prime target for On Location. They are more cautious in their purchases, often intended to reward their most loyal customers.
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