- First struck by the consequences of the coronavirus, event and hotel professionals take the lead.
- In Toulouse, they federate under the banner # SOSevents31.
- Faced with reductions in turnover that can already reach 60%, they are demanding quick solutions.
Here is a hashtag that the creatives of their boxes would have preferred never to invent: # SOSevents31. Some 200 Toulouse event and hotel managers gathered under this “informal” banner four days ago. "We have the impression that it's been a century", breathes Jean-François Renac, one of these bosses more than worried about the consequences of the coronavirus.
Phone calls for cancellations, cancellations for improbable postponements, calendars and schedules are emptied as quickly as the rooms. "We can not organize anything above a gauge of 1,000 people but our customers, it is from 20 people that they invoke the precautionary principle," says the boss of Miharu, who operates places of events.
60 to 95% of canceled events
The SOSevents31 crisis collective has done its accounts. He estimates that 60 to 95% of the events planned by June will not take place, "and that's 100% for caterers". The same catastrophe in the hotel industry where, according to the establishments, turnover has already fallen by "from 25 to 60%".
The players in these trades know that they are only the first victims of a greater shock to come. "And even if everything returns to normal, we will not be able to play Tetris by resetting in September all the events postponed," assures Jean-Francois Renac. "Our industry is in immediate death danger," says Pierre Garrigue, the manager of the communications company PGO.
"Decree a state of economic disaster"
This Thursday a delegation was received "with kindness" to the metropolis to request an exceptional cancellation of the tourist tax - 1.5 million euros per year - paid by hotels. The members of SOSevents31 are convinced that the tax facilities already decided at the national level will not be enough. "We must declare a state of economic disaster", they advocate, "imagining for example that the insurance could cover part of the losses". Many other sectors will no doubt have the same wish in the coming days.
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