Tourism, a pillar of the French economy, was the first victim of the health crisis.

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DAMIEN MEYER / AFP

This is one of the consequences of the epidemic.

Tourism activity in France is expected to decline by around 25% in the first half of the year.

But it should resist better than its European neighbors to the impact of the coronavirus "thanks to a solid domestic market", estimated Friday the Secretary of State in charge of Tourism Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.

“When we look at each other, we scare each other, but when we compare ourselves, we are reassured,” he summed up, during a press conference call at the end of a Tourism sector committee, bringing together all the players in the sector.

France "resists better than its European neighbors"

At the level of "cumulative international (tourism) receipts from January to June 2020 of France", according to initial estimates, the loss is of the order of "50%" with 12.3 billion against 25.5 billion per year. past, while the decline should reach 98% in Spain, he detailed.

"Thanks to its solid domestic market", he added, France "resists better than its European neighbors" and "will be, I think, rather around 25%", against 50% for Spain and 75 % in Italy.

This summer, "the French responded to the call for a blue, white, red summer" which "allowed to partly compensate for the slightest arrival" of foreign tourists, he continued, however, noting "d 'significant disparities'.

He gave the example of the hotel opening rate, which at the national level is 80%, but peaks at 98% on the coast, to drop between 27 and 29% for a five-star in the Paris region. .

Collapse in Paris

Faced with the "very worrying situation in Paris, Ile-de-France and in the cities", Lemoyne had also pleaded Tuesday for "recovery contracts" targeted on these destinations.

Figures published at the end of August have indeed shown a collapse in activity in the first half of the year, in Paris and its region, which has hitherto been the driving force in the sector.

In response to the National Group of Independent Hotels, Restaurants and Caterers (GNI) Paris Ile-de-France which considered Friday to be part of the "great forgotten" of the recovery plan presented the day before, Mr. Lemoyne assured that he was going to “Mobilize” all resources “in the service of tourism”.

The official also indicated that a new interministerial committee dedicated to the sector could be held in the first half of October under the leadership of the Prime Minister.

That organized last May led to a vast plan of 18 billion for this sector which represents 7% of the French gross domestic product (GDP) and two million jobs.

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