This project of the City of Paris risks upsetting tourism stakeholders, local residents and workers.
Paris, like Lyon or Bordeaux, is jumping into sustainable tourism with both feet. The City of Light hammered it home in 2021, aspiring to become the “world” capital of sustainable tourism. Mayor Anne Hidalgo intends to use the 2024 Summer Olympics as a showcase for such ambition. This is what the boss of a hotel group told us, who was able to consult a confidential document on a “green” project planned during the event, from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
Towards bicycle traffic jams?
“Anne Hidalgo wants Paris to be reserved for pedestrians and bicycles for the duration of the Olympic Games”, assures this hotelier who is very well established in the Paris region. “It’s madness. We are coming out of two years of crisis, and they want to put a spoke in our wheels… With tourism players, we are going to organize roadblocks to dissuade the Paris council from voting for this absurd measure”, threatens the CEO.
Anne Hidalgo has, however, provided for “fanciful” derogations for road traffic, the hotel boss understands. “It is a question of allowing the circulation of cars, buses and trucks from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. only for athletes, Olympic staff, residents and traders. For those who work in Paris and tourists, public transport will be free. And the city will provide free bicycles. Instead of car traffic jams, we will have bicycle traffic jams! Another trick of sores who want beauty. »
Free bikes resold at auction
If the project to close all of Paris to vehicles is voted on, Paris should launch a call for tenders for the order of 250,000 bicycles and tuk-tuks stamped “AH JO 2024”, which will be resold at auction at the end of the OJ. The profits should make it possible to finance the development of solar panels and a rainwater collector on the forecourt of the Town Hall.
Contacted by L’Echo tourist, the city of Paris refuses to comment. As for Jean-François Rial, the president of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau (OTCP), he had not returned our call when our article was put online.
The presidential candidate’s project is part of the 2021-2026 Cycling Plan for Greater Paris. This program, which can be viewed online , provides for 250 million euros of investment. Objective: to develop cycling infrastructure and parking spaces, but also to create a “peaceful zone” in the center of Paris.
The City claims more than 1,000 kilometers of cycling facilities. And the town hall like the OTCP consider that the tourist sector must “lead the way” in the ecological transition. “They have a little bike in their head,” laughs the furious hotelier, who does not, however, lose his sense of humor.
Thank you for reading this article in its entirety. Say, you didn’t believe it? Because it’s an April Fool’s joke of course!
