Rio's Mayor Calls 2016 Olympics a Success
24 August 2016 - 10:50AM
Dow Jones News
RIO DE JANEIRO—Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes took a victory lap
Tuesday, hailing the 2016 Olympics as a success, while guaranteeing
government support for the city's upcoming Paralympic Games, amid
disappointing ticket sales and weak sponsorship.
Only 20% of the 2.5 million tickets for the Paralympics, which
run from Sept. 7 to Sept. 18, have been sold. The event's financing
remains tenuous as organizers continue to seek additional sponsors
and revenue from last-minute ticket sales.
Rio's local government and Brazil's federal government have
pledged a combined 250 million reais ($77 million) to bail out the
Rio 2016 organizing committee, which says it is short on cash to
run the Paralympics. The committee has declined to open its books,
and recently won a court battle to keep its finances private.
At a Tuesday press conference in Rio, Eliseu Padilha, chief of
staff for Brazil's acting President Michel Temer, reiterated that
government backing for the Paralympics is assured if more private
sponsorship can't be found to bridge the funding gap.
"The financial question has been resolved," Mr. Padilha said.
"There will be a lot of people, and I'm not worried at all. It will
be a great success."
Mr. Paes, who appeared with Mr. Padilha, also gave assurances
that the Paralympics will go on.
"We will give the resources, if necessary," Mr. Paes said. "We
will make the Paralympic Games incredible."
Even with the promise of taxpayer-funded help, the International
Paralympic Committee is bracing for cuts that are "likely to impact
nearly every stakeholder attending the Games," Philip Craven, the
committee's president, said last week. IPC officials said
transportation, media facilities and spectator services are likely
to be affected.
Rio on Sunday closed the Olympic Games, which were hailed as an
operational success despite a steady stream of glitches, including
long lines, vanishing volunteers and a diving pool that
mysteriously turned green. Sporting victories, including Brazilian
gold medals in soccer and volleyball—the country's two most popular
sports—toward the end of the Games helped the hosts finish on an
upbeat note.
Critics have decried the $12.7 billion price tag and said the
money could have been better spent. Before the Games, the state of
Rio de Janeiro was forced to declare a "state of public calamity"
and received a federal government bailout.
Mr. Paes on Tuesday defended the Games, whose legacy projects
include a new subway extension, a spruced-up port area and miles of
additional bus rapid-transit lanes.
"The Games were never about making Rio a perfect place," Mr.
Paes said. "I would say we would do everything again because we
have become a better city."
Worries about Brazil's Zika virus epidemic had led to calls by
some health experts to reschedule the Games. Mr. Paes said city
health officials had not registered a single case of Zika among
more than 8,000 people treated during the Olympics. He said 95% of
visitors interviewed would like to return to Rio, according to
survey carried out by the municipality.
Local service industries on Tuesday said they enjoyed a boost
during the Olympics, with hotels at 94% occupancy, according to the
Brazilian Hotel Industry Association of Rio de Janeiro.
Airbnb said more than 85,000 people booked accommodations
through the company in Rio during the Games but demand for the
Paralympics remains weak.
"We haven't seen (so far) the strong pickup we saw during the
Olympics," said Leonardo Tristã o, Airbnb's general director in
Brazil.
Rio hotels haven't released official numbers but recently
estimated that less than 50% of hotel rooms in the city have been
booked for the Paralympics.
Rio's Paralympic ticket sales are increasing but remain well
below London's in 2012, with a record of 2.7 million seats sold. So
far, 500,000 tickets have been bought of 2.5 million put on sale
for Rio's Paralympics.
Weak ticket sales and a lack of sponsorship funds led the Rio
2016 local organizing committee to seek a taxpayer bailout. An
injunction prohibiting any public money from flowing to the
committee unless it opened its books was overturned last week. The
city of Rio has agreed to contribute 150 million reais if needed,
with another 100 million promised by the federal government.
The shaky funding has led to a delay in local organizers paying
travel grants to foreign delegations to transport athletes and
their coaches to Rio. Mr. Craven of the IPC said last week that
"around 10" national delegations were uncertain whether they would
be able to make the trip. He declined to state which ones.
A Rio 2016 spokesman on Tuesday didn't confirm whether the
travel grants had been paid.
Write to Luciana Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 23, 2016 20:35 ET (00:35 GMT)
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