Quick, let's repatriate the Ministry of Tourism to Bercy!

Nicolas Bouzou 11:31 am, December 10, 2021

EDITORIAL

This week, Alain Griset, the Minister of SMEs and Crafts, resigned after his judicial conviction for incomplete declaration of his assets.

He was replaced by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, who was until then Secretary of State for Tourism.

This appointment could promote a total return of Tourism in the bosom of Bercy.

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Double supervision for the Ministry of Tourism

Alain Griset is a minister who has undoubtedly not been unworthy, nor especially deserved.

In fact, he had appointed to this post to ensure the piping between the stimulus plans and the companies.

Craftsman-taxi, he knew the area very well and was undoubtedly a useful part in the system of stimulus plans.

But what interests me here is that the Secretary of State for Tourism, in this case Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, is gradually returning to Bercy.

So, it is not yet quite realized to date, since Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne will have two supervising ministers.

It is the charm of French complexity.

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne will therefore be both under the supervision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and under the supervision of the Minister of the Economy and Public Accounts.

But anyway, we can still imagine that he is more often at Bercy than at the Quai d'Orsay, including for tourist matters.

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Tourism, "stolen" by Fabius under Holland

Why this partial return to the bosom of the Economy? What you should know is that the Ministry of Tourism had in a way been stolen from Bercy by Laurent Fabius when he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs under François Hollande. The idea that had been theorized was to set up an economic diplomacy that would benefit tourism. So you might as well tell you that it never worked. Already, the Quai d'Orsay does not have special jurisdiction in these areas, but above all, it was basically nonsense.

In fact, it takes a strong economy to advance a foreign policy.

The reverse works less well.

I'll give you a very concrete example.

In 2009, an excellent minister from Bercy called Hervé Novelli created Atout France, the tourism promotion agency for our country.

It worked very well at Bercy.

And then this agency has considerably lost its influence at the Quai d'Orsay.

Diplomats have realized that economics is not just words, it's not just diplomacy, it's also technique and power.

Tourism, I remind you, is 7 points of GDP.

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Let's repatriate Tourism to Economy

There are many challenges for the sector. In the short term, we must compensate for the closure of borders, avoid the bankruptcy of the big players, more than that of the small players who have access to aid such as the Solidarity Fund for companies. And then, in the medium term, of course, the decarbonisation of the sector. I am thinking of ski resorts, in particular, which have a carbon footprint which is not always good. So to do that, you need an integrated strategy. There is economic policy, industrial policy, research. Look at air travel. Today, the stake is the carbon-free airplane. Make airports more competitive, allow tour operators to move upmarket.

You need motivated people to achieve these goals, specialists, a good Bercy and a good Minister of the Economy.

Hopefully this repatriation of Tourism to Bercy is quickly concluded.