Faced with the obligation of a health pass for their customers, amusement parks have seen the number of visitors drop in their establishments.
“Many sites are in distress,” warns Arnaud Bennet, president of the national union for leisure, attraction and cultural spaces, on Europe 1 on Tuesday.
INTERVIEW
Since July 21, amusement parks must respect the obligation of health pass for their customers, while the Covid-19 epidemic resumes in France.
Problem: This measure discourages many potential customers from going to these places of recreation.
Even people who are not reluctant to vaccines, for example, have not completed their vaccination process.
"Many do not come and many sites are in distress with a very complicated economic situation", alarms Arnaud Bennet, director of the amusement and zoological park of Pal, in Auvergne, and president of the national union of leisure spaces. , attractions and culture, Tuesday on Europe 1.
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Up to 50% drop in attendance
Usually, "people make the decision in the morning or the day before to come," insists this professional. For him, the measure "upsets" therefore "enormously visits to parks today with people who, not wanting to plan their visit, do not simply come". Attendance has thus fallen by 15 to 50% depending on the site. Dramatic figures for professionals for whom the months of July and August represent 70 to 80% of the turnover for the year.
Arnaud Bennet specifies, his union is not against vaccination, however.
"What we are simply contesting is this hasty implementation on July 21 in sites which are also often outdoor sites, totally secure, with protocols that have demonstrated their effectiveness in 2020", explains t -he.
Because in the field, this rapid implementation is not understood by everyone.
"Many people arrive and have not understood that a test of less than 48 hours is necessary… They arrive with tests which have three days", illustrates the leader.
"We are totally helpless and really desperate"
Situations that can sometimes create tension. "We are indeed insulted", testifies Arnaud Bennet. "We receive very flowery messages, telling us that we are 'collaborators', that the health pass is a scandal, that the vaccination is a scandal ... But hey, that is not very serious . We are in favor of vaccination. We are not against this pass. It is more the date of July 21 that was causing us a problem. "
Faced with these problems, parks, often the largest, have tried to set up antigenic testing sites in car parks.
“Unfortunately, Parisian politicians have not thought of changing the decree of June 1 which authorizes this measure and its coverage by health insurance for nightclubs and only for nightclubs,” scoffs Arnaud Bennet.
"So we are totally helpless and really desperate."
Therefore, the future looks rather bleak for amusement parks to believe their union.
"It is not even a question of knowing whether people will be able to pay the fixed charges during the season, but especially what will happen after the seasonal closure which often occurs at the end of September", worries Arnaud Bennet.