Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron and four ministers meet Friday morning with representatives of the catering, hotel and tourism industries to study deconfinement measures and support for a sector on the brink of collapse.
In addition to representatives from the sector, five renowned chefs were invited: Philippe Etchebest, Alain Ducasse, Guy Savoy, Hélène Darroze and Michel Sarran.
This videoconference, which started shortly after 10:00 am, relates to the specific assistance plan that the government is preparing for this sector which employs a million employees.
Its companies are among those most affected by the crisis and most of them will not be able to reopen in May during the deconfinement.
The challenge is to "keep all the establishments alive, from the crêperie to the 3 stars", said Philippe Etchebest, the Bordeaux chef, who is taking part in the meeting. "Before thinking about reopening, let's think about saving the companies that are on a drip, this is the priority," he said.
The actors of tourism and catering hope in particular to obtain exemption from the payment of local taxes in 2020, the cancellation of rents for six months and the extension of measures in favor of partial unemployment of employees. Among the options studied, there is also the assumption of operating losses for restaurateurs, a third by the State, a third by insurance and the last third by the owners.
Representatives from the sector were invited to the videoconference: Roland Heguy (Union of Hotel Trades and Industries), Didier Chenet (National Group of Self-Employed Hotels / Restaurants), Sven Boinet (Alliance France Tourisme), Nicolas Dayot (Federation of open-air hotels), Marie-Reine Fischer (Confederation of institutional tourism), Sophie Huberson (Syndicate of leisure, attraction and cultural spaces), Philippe Coy (Confederation of tobacconists) and Rodolphe Delord (Association of parks zoological).
The CEO of the Accor hotel group Sébastien Bazin and the president of Puy du Fou Nicolas de Villiers were also invited.
The ministers present are Bruno Le Maire (Economy), Gérald Darmanin (Public Accounts), Jean-Yves Le Drian (Foreign Affairs) and Secretary of State Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.
© 2020 AFP