2023-11-24 03:43:57
A Seine without any boats. “Approximately 7 days” before July 26, navigation will be completely stopped on the perimeter concerned by the opening ceremony, namely between Austerlitz (13th century) and Bir-Hakeim (15th century). The prefecture of the Ile-de-France region confirms to Le Parisien this information, revealed by our colleagues from La Tribune.
“In the interests of transparency and to allow river stakeholders to anticipate this constraint, the regional prefecture has confirmed that the preparation of the ceremony involves a navigation stoppage on the Seine of approximately 7 days,” specifies the institution .
“Necessary security operations”
The announcement was made to the various shipowners around ten days ago. “The taking place on the Seine of the opening ceremony on July 26, 2024 takes place in an exceptional setting,” recalls the regional prefecture. It’s the first outside of an enclosed stadium and on a river. Its organization requires measures to be taken to take this unique framework into account. »
On July 26, more than 10,000 athletes will parade on 91 boats to kick off the Games. All under the gaze of around 500,000 spectators gathered on the quays, along this 6 km route. “Operations to secure the site and boats, install the equipment necessary for the show and rehearsal must be carried out,” justifies the prefecture. An organization which has been the subject of “exchanges for several months between the prefecture and representatives of river stakeholders to best anticipate constraints”.
“We will surely have losses”
“We would have liked to operate our boats during this period, but we have to do what is necessary in terms of security,” resigns Taoufiq Amrani, the general director of the Compagnie des Bateaux-Mouches. We will therefore surely have losses, which will only be partially compensated within the framework of the agreements signed with the organizer. »
As is the case for most shipowners, the 9 boats of this company will be mobilized as part of the opening ceremony, in exchange for financial compensation. “It doesn’t change much for us,” warns Marie Bozzoni, the general director of Les Vedettes de Paris. Our 5 boats will also parade during the opening ceremony. Paris 2024 had already told us that there was a week of preparation in advance, during which they would not have been usable anyway. »
Taoufiq Amrani already sees further. “We hope for a return on investment over 2025-2026-2027 in terms of tourism, as has been the case for other Olympics in other countries. »
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