Nice Première: Michel Tschann, what is your feeling about the recent setbacks of the Palais Acropolis?
Michel Tschann: A great dismay: 3 years wasted and during that time our competitors are advancing, taking clients from us and doing their job.
Will there ever be a real political will regarding this palace? If the city of Nice is uninterested, it should be closed and stated clearly.
NP: What do you think about internal management by Nice City Hall?
MT: The situation is too serious for controversy.
Simply put, the City Hall mistook its wishes for reality: no “tenant” (let’s speak clearly) was going to undertake significant work with an 8-year lease. A tenant doesn’t have to do the work that belongs to the owner. This misguided idea, coupled with a total lack of consultation, leads to the current impasse.
NP: A single solution seems to be to extend the association Nice Acropolis for another year. What is your opinion on this solution?
MT: That is indeed one of the solutions, but Nice Acropolis must be willing and have the financial means!
NP: What does Acropolis lack today to become a major congress center on the Côte d’Azur?
MT: Exhibition spaces that already exist. We can expand the area slightly, possibly reclaim the bowling alley and cinematheque, and make a connection with the exhibition hall. The set-up is unique in Europe, and soon to be served by the tramway, it would be fabulous.
NP: What does Acropolis represent for hoteliers in Nice and the Côte d’Azur?
MT: 15% of the revenue for 4 and 3-star hotels, and the opportunity to “operate” all year round. Faced with competition from low labor cost countries where the sun is as beautiful as in Nice, the two “niches” on the coast are event and business tourism.
Our neighbors have understood this well!
NP: Finally, what would be your solution to get out of this impasse?
MT: There are several… none is perfect and none is viable without a firm political will and courage:
– Close Acropolis for several months: this would allow for the social situation to be stabilized and for the work to be done.
– Extend Nice Acropolis – if the association agrees – but again with the owner’s commitment to the work.
– Create a SEM (mixed economy company) bringing together all the stakeholders, including the CANCA which benefits from equipment paid for solely by the people of Nice, and the General Council, if not the regional one.
Cannes partially funds its work through the department, so why not Nice? The General Council spends 1.2 million euros on a media library in Lantosque… What can it do for the largest city in the department?
If a SEM were considered, hoteliers would participate, as would likely the receptive travel agencies.
