- Closed for almost two months like all French cultural places, the Cité du Vin will not reopen on May 11.
- Philippe Massol, its managing director, announces losses of several million and hopes to reopen at best on July 1.
- He is especially worried about the drop in attendance at the Bordeaux wine temple in the medium term.
It seems a long time ago when you could taste a good glass of Bordeaux at 35 meters high with a 360 degree panorama of the city thanks to the belvedere of the Cité du Vin. Like many French tourist places, the Bordeaux museum has been closed since Saturday March 14 due to the epidemic of Covid-19.
Inaugurated in 2016 by President François Hollande, this temple of viticulture has welcomed more than 400,000 visitors a year. It is the fourth most visited museum in the country, outside Ile-de-France. The concept will even be exported in the coming months to China. So how is the Cité du Vin going through this unprecedented health crisis? Finances, reopening, projects… Philippe Massol, its managing director, takes stock for 20 Minutes.
What is the situation of the Cité du Vin?
We are waiting. For the moment, we do not have a precise timetable. From the first day, we mainly try to preserve our jobs and maintain a remote activity to offer content to the public. Today, the Cité du Vin has 200 direct and indirect jobs and at time T, we have managed to maintain them all thanks in particular to the establishment of partial unemployment.
Culture remains open!
All weekend (and even after) continue to taste content freely accessible on our media library "Culture Wine" and on our various social networks
All info: https://t.co/nm5M3PW92k pic.twitter.com/YAIXBo7Hl0
After almost two months, have you assessed the losses?
It is difficult to give a precise figure because we still do not know when we will be able to reopen. But for example, in April in normal times we receive 40,000 visitors and they spend on average 20 euros, at the end of the day it's already a shortage of 1.6 million euros! The loss is estimated today at several million euros!
Have you applied for state aid?
For the moment, we are holding the shock with partial unemployment. We did not request a PGE (loan guaranteed by the State). Afterwards, if the current situation continues for too long, we will surely need help. Especially short-time working must be maintained for us and even after the possible reopening because otherwise there will be deaths.
Are you planning a reopening date?
It's complicated to say. There will be an interdepartmental meeting on May 14 on tourism and new decisions at the end of May. I hope we will know more at that time. We hope to reopen on July 1 because even if we have the green light in early June, we will have to prepare for the return of visitors.
Do you have a plan ?
Not today. We are waiting to have a manual from the authorities. It is under development. I think the places are large enough to handle the flows and there are a lot of attractions where the visitor doesn't touch anything, so cleaning can be managed. I do not know yet if the wearing of the mask will be mandatory with us but the mask reassures. What worries me is the attitude of people at the reopening. Will they come back? We must not forget either that 50% of our visitors are foreigners. Attendance is likely to be heavily impacted for months. One thing is certain, we have not planned to increase the price of entry despite the crisis.
Are some projects postponed or canceled?
All our projects are put on hold. The exhibition "Drinking with the Gods" which was to take place from April 10 to August 30, 2020 is postponed from April 9 to August 29, 2021 and suddenly, the exhibition "Picasso and wine" planned in 2021 is postponed to 2022.
Does this crisis call into question the City of Wine project in China?
No, this project was never questioned even when China itself was confined. I work very regularly on it. The project continues to advance and its delivery date remains the same, i.e. at the end of 2021.
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- Aquitaine
- Bordeaux
- Museum
- Wine
- Viticulture
- Confinement
- Covid 19
- Coronavirus