May 12, 2020, in front of the Carlton hotel in Cannes - Daniel Cole / AP / SIPA

  • The hotels on the Côte d'Azur, closed since confinement, will not reopen until the start of June.
  • "Some will not recover" from this crisis, are alarmed by professionals who are trying to organize themselves to limit breakage this summer.

The month of May should have been, as usual, that of all the superlatives for the Cannes hotel industry. Suites that are negotiated at more than 40,000 euros per night on the Croisette and occupancy rates that break the ceiling.

But the Covid-19 epidemic and the cancellation of the Cannes Film Festival (196 million euros in economic benefits in normal times)have been there. Result: the city, which has had to undergo the cascade suppression of all these international meetings, is one of the most damaged in France in terms of tourism.

"Everything must reopen at the same time" with restaurants and beaches

It is for this reason that the mayor of Cannes will participate this Thursday morning in the interministerial committee which must reveal the outlines of a "Marshall plan" at nearly 1.5 billion euros to deal with the crisis. He will in particular ask for a “widening of the system of holiday vouchers” and ask for the creation of “a 'Made In France' offer specifically intended for establishment committees” (SNCF, EDF, etc.) to revive the sector. On Wednesday evening, David Lisnard (LR) himself brought together local professionals from the videoconference industry to "prepare the recovery plan for this summer".

🔴 At #MairieDeCannes with @davidlisnard for a videoconference with socio-professionals in the tourism sector.

On the agenda: the Cannes destination recovery plan, ahead of the Interministerial Tourism Committee in which the Mayor of Cannes will participate tomorrow pic.twitter.com/pVPvaambP7

- Cannes (@villecannes) May 13, 2020

Because there is an emergency. The situation is scarlet red. “We only have three hotels that stayed open during confinement for caregivers. These are small structures of around twenty rooms. No other reopening is planned before the government speaks on June 2, clarifying the date of reopening of restaurants and beaches, says Christine Welter, president of the Cannes hotel union. We are in a global ecosystem where everything has to reopen at the same time. "

"Some will not recover from it"

99.5% of the hotels on the French Riviera are closed "and we know very well that some will not recover", alarms his counterpart from Nice Denis Cippolini. In the whole of the Alpes-Maritimes, only a handful of establishments whose kitchens can sell take-out were able to remain open. All the others are in hibernation.

“The hotel and restaurant industry accounts for 40% of the partial unemployment in our department. This sector is 18% of GDP in Nice. We are facing a real disaster, ”warns the president of the Hotel and Tourism Federation UMIH Nice Côte d'Azur.

"Foreigners will not come this summer"

And the prospects for a possible recovery for the months, normally the best of the year, are not really good. "On reservations that were already made before the crisis, we had an avalanche of cancellations," says Denis Cippolini. And for the rest, people are waiting to learn more about the evolution of the epidemic and the decisions that will be made. Anyway, we already know that foreigners, who represent 65% of the clientele with us, will not come or very few. "

For the month of June, if the reopening takes place, the Riviera hotels expect a maximum occupancy rate of 30%, far from the usual standards. For July and August, it could wait 50% or 60% "in the best of cases". Not enough to make up for what has already been lost.

Coronavirus

Cannes faces “a real social and economic disaster” after several trade fair cancellations

Economy

"We go into hibernation mode", the hotels of the French Riviera close their doors

  • Covid 19
  • Crisis
  • Deconfinement
  • Confinement
  • Coronavirus
  • Hotel
  • Hotel
  • Cannes
  • Nice
  • Economy