Paris (AFP)
In difficulty because of health restrictions, 70% of independent Parisian hotels could close their doors again in August, said Monday the president of the National Group of Independent Hotels and Restaurants (GNI) Île-de-France, Pascal Mousset .
"Today, 40% of Parisian hotels are closed in July. Within 15 days, it is estimated that 70% of Parisian hotels will close, for lack of reservations," he said on BFM Business.
According to him, state aid "is not calibrated for the hotel industry": 25% of members of his union have already consumed their loan guaranteed by the state and risk default in the fall.
Joined by AFP, Pascal Mousset specifies that he bases his estimates on surveys conducted among GNI members, and that they do not concern the large hotel groups in the capital.
According to him, four-star hotels, which represent "60 to 65% of independent Parisian hotels", suffer particularly from the decline in tourism, while trips from non-European countries are still largely restricted or require full vaccination.
"With the Delta variant and the constraints that are made on travel, there are no stays in Paris," says Pascal Mousset to AFP, specifying that the left bank of the capital is the most affected.
He nevertheless assures us that the majority of hotels should open at the end of August, with the launch in early September of international trade fairs in Paris.
The employers' union represents the self-employed in the hotel and catering industry, alongside other organizations such as the Union des métiers et des industries de l'hôtellerie (Umih), the National Group of Hotel Chains (GNC) and the National Union of thematic and commercial catering (SNRTC).
The Île-de-France branch represents some 6,000 establishments in the region.
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