Paris 2024: Business plans for Olympic boost
Paris 2024 is almost here. Billions have been spent trying to create the most sustainable Olympics yet. The Exchange meets the leaders at the forefront of efforts to create a legacy of economic and environmental success.
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00:00 Let the games begin. This July the Olympics will return to the French capital Paris for
00:07 a third time. Billions of dollars have been poured into this year's competition. But how
00:12 much will be made and will it be worth it for the host country?
00:21 Welcome to The Exchange from our studio here in Doha. Coming up on this episode we meet
00:26 the man in charge. Christophe Duby, Executive Director of the Olympic Games, explains what
00:31 it takes to create the planet's biggest international sporting event. Plus we talk to Jaime Byram,
00:38 CEO of Beyond Hospitality, one company disrupting the sporting events sector. So it's 41 different
00:45 sports, more than 300 events competing over 19 days. Will big events like this attract
00:52 the biggest sponsors? Let's take a look at who they are. Coca-Cola has been an Olympic
00:57 sponsor longer than any other company, signing their first deal back in 1928. Well, the giant
01:04 beverage brand has faced criticism for plastic pollution and vowed to rely solely on recyclable
01:10 glass bottles at Paris 2024, a move designed to help reduce single-use plastics throughout
01:16 the whole event by 50%, something that would be an Olympic first. San Francisco-based Airbnb
01:24 signed a nine-year deal with the Olympics Committee in 2019 worth 500 million euros.
01:31 A study by financial consultancy Deloitte predicts Airbnb customers coming to Paris
01:36 '24 will spend half a billion euros on restaurants and leisure activities in the city. And big
01:44 sponsorship means big money. To give us an idea of just how much, a 2022 budget review
01:51 revealed over four billion euros were put aside for the organizing committee. 1.4 billion
01:58 is allocated for ticketing, licensing and hospitality, and 1.2 billion euros on partnerships.
02:05 The River Seine is the focal point for the opening ceremony. There's plans for a huge
02:09 boat parade on the water. The river will also be used for competitions. But as Euronews
02:14 reporter Cyril Feneres found out, a big clean-up needs to happen first. One of Europe's most
02:22 iconic rivers is also one of its most important. Winding its way through from Burgundy to the
02:28 English Channel, the Seine has brought trade and transportation to Paris for centuries.
02:34 And it remains that same critical lifeline to millions today. Over 50 percent of all
02:39 water used in Paris still comes from the Seine. As the world prepares for the Paris Olympics,
02:45 a major effort is underway to get this great river ready on time. 1.4 billion euros has
02:53 been invested to decontaminate the river. A giant rainwater storage basin is being built
02:59 behind the Gare de Stalit to reduce the amount of water discharged from the sewers into the
03:05 Seine during rainy periods. We asked the deputy mayor of the city of Paris what this work
03:22 meant for Parisians. The city of Paris guarantees that the Seine
03:52 will be open to all bathers by 2025 and that this great clean-up will be one of the main
03:58 legacies of the Paris Olympics. Back to you, Guy.
04:04 Well I asked Christophe to be executive director of the Olympics and Paralympics about the
04:08 logistics of such a vast event and what attracts people to the Games.
04:15 It's more than half a million people a day that you process through the various venues.
04:21 And then you can imagine what it takes in terms of transportation. You're adding on
04:27 any city, for that matter Paris, you're adding about 600 to 700,000 people a day in the transport
04:34 system. And then you have the security challenge. All of the venues have to be fully secured.
04:40 So it takes 35 to 40,000 people every day. You have telecommunication. Well, it's the
04:48 size of Paris overlaid for every single day of competition. So it's exposed, it's complicated,
04:57 it's sophisticated, but it is the world as one. And what we stand for at the time of
05:03 the Games is peace, respect, friendship, and this matters. And these values are exposed
05:11 to the rest of the world. Now, as you heard there, the Olympics will
05:15 bring millions of visitors into the city of Paris. And many spectators will also be looking
05:21 to the hospitality sector to enhance their overall experience. This could be anything
05:26 from VIP boxes to catering at your seat. The hospitality packages at big sporting events
05:32 like the Olympics are getting bigger and better. Jaime Byram is the CEO of Beyond Hospitality,
05:39 an executive with almost four decades of experience in the industry. I asked him for his thoughts
05:45 on the evolution of hospitality. One of the things that we've taken a lead
05:50 on in recent years is to look beyond the security perimeter of the stadium, look for what we
05:57 call ancillary services, integrate an offering of accommodation, ground transportation, offsite
06:04 hospitality venues. All those things are things that if you look at the programs that I've
06:10 had the privilege of being involved with over the years, they have been innovations at the
06:13 time, but they soon become standard to the industry.
06:16 Now it's time for our regular feature business in 60 seconds. Start the clock. Giant retail
06:23 group Gap gets ready to release its earnings for the first quarter of the year. The 55-year-old
06:27 iconic clothing brand has enjoyed strong sales growth in recent months, causing share valuations
06:32 to soar. The board is continuing its strategy of expanding their most profitable stores
06:37 like Old Navy. The National Bank of Canada reports on Q2 2024, Quebec's biggest bank
06:43 saw sales surge to over 10 billion Canadian dollars in 2023 and profits rose in the first
06:49 quarter of the year. But the looming threat of customers missing loan repayments due to
06:54 high borrowing costs is one of many challenges the board will need to navigate in the months
06:58 ahead. American software firm Adobe is also set to publish its Q2 results. The maker of
07:05 products like PDF, Photoshop and Premiere Pro has been busy building a range of new
07:11 AI-assisted tools that they hope will revolutionise the video editing market while also creating
07:17 protections for people and companies against the dangers of deep fakes.
07:23 The Games are a competition but also a celebration of the best in the world. Well, all eyes will
07:29 be on Paris and the efforts made to prepare the city for an incredible opening ceremony.
07:34 There's a focus on sustainability and shared values. For the organisers and sponsors, delivering
07:40 an economic legacy as well as protecting the planet, well, that's the ultimate Olympic
07:45 dream. Well, that's all we have time for on this edition of the show. Thank you for watching.
07:50 Please do check out Euronews.com for all your latest business news and join us again next
07:54 time on the exchange.
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