“Given the evolution of the health crisis and the latest developments and decisions regarding travel restrictions, the SETO (Syndicate of Tour Operational Companies), met again with the main tour operators (TO) operating on the French market "in order to recommend to them " that all departures from package tours up to and including Thursday April 30 be postponed with the issuance of a credit valid until December 31 at least ", have we learned this Tuesday March 17 from René-Marc Chikli, president of SETO.
Thus in barely 24 hours, the possibility of postponing stays, with credit rather than reimbursement, validated by the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire, has been extended by one month. For all the tourism professionals we interviewed, "the urgency is repatriation" , as Thierry Orsoni, director of communications at Club Med says, or Gilbert Cisneros, president of Exotismes, who judges that it is "too early to speak on something else" .
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"There are 20,000 French tourists abroad to repatriate, notably to the Canary Islands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Tunisia, and 9,000 to Morocco," said Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State to the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, during a telephone press conference. The latter was organized after a meeting with the various tourism stakeholders on the coronavirus and its consequences on the sector, this Tuesday afternoon.
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne insisted on the possibility of postponing stays with assets to maintain both “the cash flow of the agencies and the interest of the consumer” . "This measure will appear in the government emergency plan," said the Secretary of State, indicating that "a request for cancellation of benefits would imply the bankruptcy of a number of agencies, and therefore their inability to reimburse. "
This crisis leads us to innovate in our sales conditions. There are things that are going to change durably in services, assistance, support and solidarity in hard times.
Arthur Courtinat, The Houses of Travel"This crisis will make it possible to understand that leaving with a tour operator who bears the risks rather than being alone left on your own, it's still not bad," says Fabrice del Taglia, managing director of Nomade Aventure (Voyageurs group). of the world). "Today, there is an adaptation of our conditions of sale to reality," continues Arthur Courtinat, director general of Maisons du Voyage (owned by the Figaro group). "Any reservation confirmed in the coming weeks for the coming year may be postponed without charge to another date or to another destination up to 20 days before departure, so as not to be trapped in your project" , specifies- he.
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Difficult to project when the time is to worry about confinement. He himself admits that he is more concerned "about clients quarantined in Vietnam" . But he continues: “This crisis leads us to innovate in our sales conditions. There are things that will change in the long term in services, assistance, support and solidarity in hard times. ”
On an unprecedented scale, the Covid-19 places tourism specialists in Asia in particular in an "ubiquitous" situation, incommensurate with the epidemic of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2003, which had not not spread outside the Asian market. “What is ubiquitous is that our destinations, China in mind, are slowly emerging from the crisis, although we have to be careful with the 'rebound' effect , but we can no longer send customers there, especially in Vietnam and Thailand, because of the risks of untimely confinement at destination, " says Guillaume Linton, general manager of Asia, which sends around 29,000 French people each year.
Blessed are the tourists who turned to professionals, on permanent watch, who inform and assist them, secure them financially
Guillaume Linton, Asia"At this point, to put it positively, blessed are the tourists who have turned to professionals, on permanent watch, who inform and assist them, make them financially secure," he insists. And already candidates for departure would express themselves. “Long-haul enthusiasts do not react like the general public. There are already a few of them making reservations for the end of the year, ” observes the manager, who is delighted that 18% of these informed travelers still wish to travel to China. The destination was already penalized before the coronavirus by the requirement of fingerprints for obtaining a visa since last summer. This specialist anticipates a renewed interest which could reverse the curves for the second half towards Asia, deserted by Chinese tourists who, according to him, should not find the road of the holidays before 2021.