Paris 2024 Olympics: a campaign advocating teleworking worries the hotel sector

Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: LAURE BOYER / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 6:07 p.m., February 1, 2024

“To save time during the Games, the important thing is to work remotely.” Launched last Monday, an awareness campaign encourages Ile-de-France residents to work from home during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. "When possible, encourage remote working", can we read on the advertising posters displayed in the stations of metro of the French capital. This campaign refers users to the Anticiperlesjeux.gouv.fr website.

This platform, led by the Ministry of Transport, which no longer has a designated minister since Clément Beaune was not reappointed in the government of Gabriel Attal, aims to facilitate the travel of Ile-de-France residents during the sporting event. planetary. By visiting the site, Parisians will be able, using an interactive map, to find out the places to avoid as well as the busiest times. On the other hand, this awareness campaign does not necessarily appeal to restaurateurs and cafe owners.

A “very negative” message

If the campaign launched by Clément Beaune doesn't speak to you, that's why. According to

, it was opened without any media coverage, due to the lack of a Minister assigned to Transport to provide after-sales service. On the other hand, since the reshuffle of January 11, it is the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, Christophe Béchu, who manages the transport issue. And, according to his entourage, a communication will be made "in the middle of next week" after the appointment of the secretaries of state and the delegated ministers in the government of Gabriel Attal, assures Le Parisien. 

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Even if this message encouraging teleworking is not surprising given the risks of saturation of the metros and RERs, it is however not very well received by the hotel sector. Still in

, Frank Delvau, president of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (Umih) Paris-Île-de-France, sees something "very negative" in this message. “It’s scandalous, the government is telling people: Stay at home, don’t move, watch the Olympics on TV! We are scaring the people of Ile-de-France by advising them not to go out, not to go to Paris during the Games", laments the trade unionist. The latter underlines that this sporting event is less and less a celebration for this sector. However, Île-de-France Mobilités ensures that this campaign does not aim to exclude Ile-de-France residents from the party but rather to encourage anticipation. 

This initiative is not new for a host country. In 2012, during the London Olympic Games, the British Minister of Transport followed the same strategy to relieve public transport. During this Olympic year, well before the Covid health crisis, a third of London workers had resorted to teleworking.