" Before the health crisis, we were the first country in terms of welcoming international tourists ," said the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, responsible for tourism in the government. We must take care to maintain this rank, at the end of the epidemic. If the objective is laudable, its achievement promises to be complex, while hotels, restaurants and tourist sites have experienced an abrupt closure, from the start of confinement and the horizon of return to normal remains uncertain. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe will chair an interdepartmental committee on the subject on May 14. But it is only at the ' fin May », according to the government, that the details of the reopenings will be known, in preparation for the summer holidays. A crucial moment for the turnover of professionals.
Read also: Follow our LIVE on the coronavirus crisis: the UK is approaching 20,000 dead
“ I understand the impatience of the players in the sector, but we have to assess the effects of the start of the deconfinement to be able to take the next step. Nothing would be worse than giving tourism professionals a date too early, then postponing the reopening for health reasons , ”explains Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. In the meantime, the government encourages the French to plan their summer holidays on the national territory. " After confinement, people will want to re-oxygenate themselves with their loved ones, in places that are known to them, this is called affinity tourism ," summarizes a government source. It will be an opportunity to rediscover our sites, our terroirs ” .
But will the supply of TGV or planes be sufficient to get around, while Air France currently only provides 2% of its flights and the restart of public transport will be slow and progressive? More than 180 countries having decided to restrict the entry of non-citizens, the prospect of a vacation on the other side of the world is moving away in any case for the coming months.
An economic lever
At the same time, French diplomacy is campaigning in Brussels to get 20% of the European recovery plan to be devoted to tourism. A request relayed by the French commissioner Thierry Breton. The argument put forward is that tourism constitutes a lever for the rest of the economy, from the fishing industries to agriculture, passing by the hotel and catering industry.
Read also: Coronavirus: a disaster for French tourism
A G20 of Ministers of Tourism was held Friday afternoon by videoconference. The aim is to coordinate health responses in order to avoid any deterrent effect for potential tourists. " A foreigner who fears that he will find himself in a fortnight by landing somewhere in Europe, depending on the arbitrariness of this or that local authority, would prefer to stay in his country ," sums up a good expert on the subject. The measures must be coordinated, to reassure everyone and allow tourism to revive. "
The opposition also took up the subject. Thirty deputies The Republicans asked, Friday, the postponement of holidays from early July to early September and to provide a device for tax exemption for reservations in France. Led by Vaucluse deputy Julien Aubert, they called for a major campaign entitled " Let's go to France " to help tourism professionals.