Hotels, cafeterias and restaurants once again show their concern. Just when they thought they had turned the page with the end of the health crisis, the inflation that is hitting their purchases of raw materials and their energy bills has weighed on their margins.
But the new bamboo blow, it is the social movements with repetition that weigh more and more in their activity. Strikes in transport, garbage not collected by the garbage cans, various and varied blockades… so many elements that worry the sector.
In Paris, “interruptions in transport, the waste that accumulates in the streets, in front of the facades of establishments and for several days, the fires of bins and the damages committed during the demonstrations have a serious impact on the activity of professionals “warns the alarm. in a press release from the GHR (Group of hotels and restaurants in France).
“Tourist cancellations are on the rise”
The ticket is already salted. According to Pascal Mousset, president of the GHR Paris IDF, “in restaurants, in Paris and in large cities, the drop in activity is around 25%” (last week compared to a normal week).
“This drop in activity especially affects establishments located in the “dirty neighborhoods”, those where garbage collection no longer works and those that are near the stations. For these establishments, the drop in activity can reach 50% on days of strikes and demonstrations, ”he continues.
“Regarding the establishments close to violent concentrations, they are either forced to close or their activity is reduced by up to 80%,” adds the GHR.
In the provinces, it is the “blockades and the fear of fuel shortages (what) pushes many customers to give up trips and abandon restaurants, especially at lunchtime. The drop in activity in the last week around 40%.” professional organization advances.
In Le Havre, Nantes, Rennes…
“In Le Havre, for example, at noon, customers come by car today, for fear of running out of fuel, they no longer come. The same in Nantes and Rennes where the fuel problem is added to that of the demonstrations that can be violent. Even in cities like Angoulême, there is a decrease in activity at noon and at dusk “adds Franck Trouet.
Hotel reservations are also suffering the consequences of social protest. “We see an abnormally low increase in bookings in Paris for the next few weeks,” worries Fabienne Ardouin, president in charge of hotel industry at GHR.
Like the activity, which would drop “between 10 and 20%, the problem for many customers is to move, by train or by car,” he adds.
Which prompted the GHR to write to Elisabeth Borne, the Prime Minister. The priority is “to apply all the measures to guarantee the health security of all by removing the tons of waste scattered on the sidewalks of the cities as soon as possible” and to guarantee “the mobility of all our fellow citizens and tourists in complete safety and finally to protect people and establishments from any degradation”.
The concern is stronger now that the Easter holidays are approaching, which begin on April 8 in zone A.
Cash flow deteriorates at high speed
And the financial state of the institutions (again) begins to deteriorate. “As of now, exhibitors barely have two to three months of cash, some barely have a month,” emphasizes Franck Trouet.
Difficulties especially due to the very high energy bill. “Many establishments are not entitled to the rate shield, as for the buffer, it is not always applied by Engie, as is the extension of payment terms, however announced by the government”, laments the General Delegate.
If we add strikes, reimbursement of PGE and staff shortages, “it becomes very difficult” for operators waiting for government measures.
Source: BFM TV
