At an almost total halt since the start of containment due to the coronavirus epidemic in France, the main players in the hotel and catering industry are to meet on Friday April 24 with President Emmanuel Macron in the hope of get massive government support to prevent a collapse.

The government has promised a specific assistance plan for businesses in the sector. Because they are very severely affected by the restriction measures. According to the latest INSEE economic outlook, they recorded 91% less activity, a figure that could worsen, because they will not be able to reopen in May during deconfinement.

The expectations of the industry, which employs one million people, are high. The actors of tourism and the restoration hope in particular the exemption from the payment of local taxes in 2020, as well as the cancellation of the rents for six months and the prolongation of the measures in favor of the partial unemployment of the employees. They also await the assumption, at least partial, of the operating losses.

The measures to be decided within the framework of this special support plan will be added to the general arrangements already implemented by the government, in particular for small businesses.

Multiplication of assistance plans

To help cafes and restaurants, the president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand (ex-Les Républicains), and the mayor of Lille, Martine Aubry (Socialist Party), called on the government on Thursday for "a real strategy", arguing in particular for "the creation by the State of a dedicated investment fund" and for "immediate measures" of support.

Economically and socially, the picture is getting darker day by day. The State has put on the table a massive emergency aid plan of 110 billion euros, definitively adopted Thursday evening by the Parliament. 

To help the most modest, hit hard by the consequences of the epidemic, an additional 39 million euros allocated to food aid have also been released.

With AFP

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