- The health crisis linked to the coronavirus epidemic has had an impact on summer vacation bookings in Hérault, according to the professionals interviewed by "20 Minutes".
- Some cancel their reservations, push them back or wait before stalling them.
In the midst of the Covid-19 health crisis, the summer holidays seem far, far away. "We don't even think about it!" “, Says Sébastien, a surfer who answered our call for testimonials, on the Facebook page of 20 Minutes Montpellier. "We don't even know if we're going to give them to us, we were forbidden to ask them when we resumed, so we'll see," adds Christine. I'll take a week, maybe two, no more. "
If the confinement period linked to the coronavirus epidemic has not been postponed until April 15, the fear of a much deeper crisis has consequences for summer reservations, on the shores of the Mediterranean . For the moment, it is difficult to quantify this impact with precision. But Jacques Mestre, restaurateur at La Grande-Motte, a seaside resort in Hérault, and president of the Union of hotel trades and industries in the department, does not hide his deep concern.
" People are scared "
"What counts above all is health," he confides to 20 Minutes. We must thank the nursing staff, we must help them. But after, unfortunately, there will be the economic situation. And I am very pessimistic. In the former Languedoc-Roussillon, we live mainly from tourism. Reservations are canceled. People are probably going to book piecemeal, a weekend, a week. They will wait until the last moment. For Jacques Mestre, "people are afraid, they risk cowering."
"Belgian customers called me yesterday [Sunday]," he says. They had to come to La Grande-Motte, but considering what is happening, they do not know if they will come. Maybe in August, but it's not sure. Without counting, continues the representative of the hotel industry in Hérault, that "the purchasing power of people is likely to be severely affected" by the health crisis, and that some will miss holidays this summer, or will shorten them .
"We are hit hard"
In campsites and hotels on the Hérault coast, the impact is real, according to the testimonies collected. "For the moment, there have been no cancellations with us, but reservations are down, deplores the manager of a campsite in Palavas-les-Flots. People are waiting to see how it goes. It's a complicated situation. "Reservations are late," we regret, at another campsite.
"There are cancellations, but in most cases, what we can do at the good will of customers, and it's true that they play the game, is pushing the dates, says Mathieu Lescoche, director of the Maïana Resort campsite, at La Grande-Motte, who, like his colleagues, cannot open, until now, until April 14. But we are hit hard. Campsites do their best to keep their heads above water. "
"There have been no new reservations since the start of containment"
"Regular customers, who come from one year to the next, they have made their reservations," says the manager of a hotel in Carnon. But will they come? I do not know. But there have been no new reservations since the start of containment. Zero. However, usually at this time they begin to fall. "People who want to come to the sea this summer will probably book at the last moment", depending on the health situation, says a hotelier in Palavas-les-Flots, who fears last minute cancellations, possible "until 72 hours before ”in its establishments. “And above all, they don't know when the holidays will start, for their children. "
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No doubt it will be necessary, in order to preserve French tourism, to favor destinations in France, some advocate. "The promotion of the Occitanie destination will be essential to guarantee the tourist attractiveness of the territory during the next summer season in order to support the activity of this strategic sector", advocated on March 12 Carole Delga (PS), the president of the region. "We have to go to France, support the economy," exclaims Sébastien, a Facebook user on 20 Minutes Montpellier.
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