SSIS Package execution throw error DTS_E_CANNOTACQUIRECONNECTIONFROMCONNECTIONMANAGER

We try to test the simple Import from Excel File saved on a shared path on a server into a SQL Table. I created the Excel Connection Manager for the Excel source file 97-2003, First row has column names checked. I created the OLEDB Destination with the selected Table and I mapped the columns.

So fine so good, but when we run the Package the following error is thrown:

Error: SSIS Error Code DTS_E_CANNOTACQUIRECONNECTIONFROMCONNECTIONMANAGER.  
The AcquireConnection method call to the connection manager "Excel Connection Manager" 
failed with error code 0xC0202009.  
There may be error messages posted before this with more information on why the AcquireConnection 
method call failed.

What do we tried:

• checked the access to the file
• to set Delay Validation to True on Package Level
• to recreate the Excel Connection Manager
• to deploy the Package and execute inside the Integration Services Catalogs

There is no 64 bit driver for excel 97 - 2003 . The workaround is to run the package using the 32 bit version of the execution utility.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms141766.aspx

For the design mode in the Project Properties->Degugging Section, set Run64bit RunTime to False