The little phrase has not gone unnoticed by tourism professionals. Certainly, " from May 11, it will again be possible to move freely, without certification, " said Edouard Philippe Tuesday at the National Assembly, but " except for trips more than 100 km from home ." Shortly after, the Secretary of State to the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne hit the nail on the head, ensuring that the French would take summer vacations near their home , " favoring the natural sites of the departments" green "where the virus circulates little ".
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A double blow for the seaside resorts and tourism professionals, stopped since the start of confinement. To anticipate the coming months, Christian Mourisard, the president of the Arles Tourist Office (Bouches-du-Rhône) and of DNA Tourisme, a grouping of the three major federations of the profession, presented this Wednesday to the Assembly national action plan. And in particular a list of fifteen proposals to " support professionals and revive tourist activity in the regions ".
Lack of cash
"There will be a huge economic impact, attack Christian Mourisard straight away. While it usually starts at Easter weekend, the tourist season is already over! We're going to plug up as much as possible, but what we didn't win before, we won't get back afterwards. "
Christian Mourisard believes that for five years, professionals in the sector had to suffer four negative effects, " with the dramatic attacks of 2015, the movement of yellow vests from 2018, the strike against pension reform in late 2019 and now the health crisis " . For him, " apart from a few large groups, the players in the tourism industry no longer have any cash and live from day to day ", with in particular a devastating effect for those who have invested recently. " If the banks are so reluctant to make loans to them, it is because they know that these people are at the end of the line ," he said.
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For Christian Mourisard, " tourism only works according to the offer we offer ". However, the offer, at the moment, is shrinking like a panic. In its city of Arles, the férias which represented 15 million euros in turnover and 150,000 visitors were canceled, as were the Rencontres de la photographie, an international event which brought in 30 million euros. every year. “ The tourist activity is 30% of the economic benefits of the city, this represents around 120 million euros. It's roughly equivalent to the city budget. It is a huge shortfall and lack of activity. "
Security protocols
Like Arles, all the cities that usually welcome tourists are already strongly affected by the crisis, and fear to be even more this summer. Thus, the ski resort of Tignes (Savoie) hoped to see its share of holidaymakers hitting the slopes until May 3. But confinement decided otherwise and has already reduced the resort's turnover by more than 25% over the ski season. Regarding the summer, which represents 20% of the turnover for the year, Frédéric Porte, the managing director of Tignes Développement, explains that the city is in the process of getting under way to offer activities adapted to health concerns.
" We prepare security protocols in the event of resumption of activity ," he explains. We are awaiting declarations at the end of May to find out what we can offer, but the mountain has a card to play this summer with the search for space and fresh air. Today, Tignes has certainly already registered around 30% of summer bookings, "in particular those of owners in Pierre et Vacances type residences ". But since the opening of reservations, this figure has not changed ... In the meantime, the station has already changed its temporary slogan " The great outdoors are preparing, take care of you " by " All together responsible, we are impatient to welcome you ”...
Bordeaux reinvents its “wine-tours”
In Bordeaux, as in the vast majority of large cities, business tourism accounts for 50% of the city's tourism turnover. “ On this market, it is a net stop and with no exit date or prospect , warns Olivier Occelli, director general of the Bordeaux Métropole Tourist Office. It is not with gatherings of 10 people that this market will restart, so visibility is very low. Most operators have shifted everything to the fall, and there they even lose confidence over this period ... This is extremely worrying, a business visitor spends 2 to 3 times more than a visitor of pleasure tourism . "
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In terms of " pleasure tourism ", therefore, Bordeaux usually attracts 40% of foreign visitors " who are not about to return ", and 60% of French. With a view to “ local ” holidays , the city is rethinking its offer to address its residents directly. "We have an " Un air de Bordeaux "website for residents to highlight what is being done in Bordeaux but also in the surrounding communities, continues Olivier Occelli . The “wine tours” are trying to limit breakage this summer. The objective is to transform the ballad into a consumption experience. For example, residents do not often go to places like Saint-Émilion because they feel that there are too many tourists. It is up to us to offer them attractive offers. "
Towards a delay in the start of the new school year in September?
In Paris, skepticism is required among hoteliers. " Paris is an eminently international city," explains Timothée de Courcy, president of the network of three Helzear hotels. However this summer, we will not have foreign customers, and I do not see Parisians going to the hotel ... It is estimated that the hotel industry in Paris will not reopen before September, because for a hotel to be profitable, it must fill at least 30 or even 50%. "
The entrepreneur says he is " confident that the state will continue to support hoteliers ", and explains that he hired an outside company to train his staff while waiting for the reopening. " We have to face new problems, in particular material problems with the arrival of masks and hydroalcoholic gel on all floors," continues Timothée de Courcy. But we must also review the circulation of customers in the hotel, who can only take the elevator to go up. Or explain to staff that they can only enter the locker room one by one. "
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Among the list of proposals that Christian Mourisard went to detail at the Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly this Wednesday afternoon, we can notably cite an assessment of the number of visitors in real time to control the flows, a possible delay of Back to school on September 8 instead of August 30, set up a national plan to bring health standards up or devote resources to assessing the economic and social impact of the current crisis on the sector.