On October 5, the Press Club 06 partnered in this conference which established a worrying diagnosis of the tourism situation on the Côte d’Azur in the face of Covid. And to envision how to resist this pandemic: “if the situation persists, we’ll have to file for bankruptcy,” revealed several hoteliers.
The faces of the many experts present at the CUM (Mediterranean University Center) in Nice were serious.
Jean-Eric Aubert, president of UIM (International University of the Sea) who organized this conference with Patrick Emeriau, maritime and blue economy expert, situated the stakes for the blue economy in fighting the pandemic. What are the impacts of the crisis, how to bounce back, and what could tourism be like in the future?
To do this, lessons must be learned from the past. Jean-Paul Potron, Chief Librarian of Nice, recounted how Nice tourism has withstood multiple crises. Photos testify to Nice’s bleak image during the Second World War. All piers destroyed on the seafront. The German army feared a landing. There was a bunker in front of the Negresco, concrete blocks at Ponchettes, and the Var bridge was bombed by the allies. A hundred hotels closed.
When Nice was a hotel graveyard.
In 1950 Nice was nicknamed the “hotel graveyard,” notes Jean-Paul Potron. Later, the city experienced serious events. The mini tsunami in 1979 after the collapse of the airport construction site… The 2016 attack and Covid: “Nice, despite disasters, managed to bounce back. I have no doubt we will find the energy and ideas necessary to get through this,” the historian estimated.
On his side, Denis Zanon, General Director of the Nice-Côte-d’Azur Metropolitan Tourist Office, gave a very worrying assessment of the situation:
“The peculiarity of this crisis is that we have no vision. No one has solutions and can say what will happen tomorrow. We need to see what’s happening elsewhere: it is the first time since the last war that we are witnessing a phenomenon that is blocking the global economy.”
Denis Zanon took the opportunity to clarify: “In Nice, more than 65% of tourists annually are foreigners. Tourism has been the cornerstone of the city’s economy. Half of the salaried jobs come from this sector in Nice. The entire economic chain of Nice is compelled to adapt to very variable decisions.
We have a hard time giving coherence to a global strategy. We have to convince Tour Operators to come to Nice. The city, despite the catastrophes it has endured, generates a rather good image in the world thanks to our resilience capacity. The handling of the health crisis was rather well perceived in the United States, for example.”
Business tourism at point zero
“The occupancy rate is 20% in June, 55% in July, 85% in August. We have dropped back to 35% in September. In October, we do not know what tomorrow will bring. Business tourism, the second pillar of our tourism strategy, is at point zero.
All corporate events have disappeared. The event strategy is constrained by various ordinances on public gauges. We experienced a brief revival thanks to the Tour de France, which allowed highlighting the hinterland. But everything is disrupted with the rains that have just ravaged it.”
On another note, Philippe Leven, Secretary General of the Federation of Hospitality, Catering, and Tourism notes: “The year 2020 started well. Until March, then in April and May, we made zero. In June, the occupancy rate rose to 18%, down by 78%.”
“For hotels, we recorded a slight upward trend in August thanks to a new national clientele joining us. We went from 89% occupancy in 2019 to 78% in 2020. But that’s not catastrophic.
However, the situation is alarming in September with an occupancy rate of 34%, a drop of 57%. Especially when compared to the Var, which maintained, thanks to the national clientele, an excellent July and comfortable August and September.”
Prospect for many hotels: closure
“This year, the American clientele has disappeared, almost no more Japanese, even fewer Italians (30% of the market). We only have the French, whose purchasing power is much lower. Therefore, the prospects on the Côte d’Azur for many establishments are closure. Awaiting better days…
The Federation of Hospitality is fighting with various bodies so that we are assisted. We have submitted a certain number of files to the Bank of France and the Prefect. If this continues, a certain number of us will die.
Our cash is depleted. Strong aid and actions are expected from tax services because obviously, if we also have to pay charges on what we don’t have, we will be forced to file a number of statements. We were unable to hire receptionists, additional cleaning staff for the beaches and restaurants.
We hope that 2021 will restart at Easter and that we can recover a bit. But we are pessimistic because the hotels that have undertaken works and invested heavily at the request of local officials are now tied to loans.”
In this context, the Riviera palaces are not spared from the axe. Bruno Mercadal, General Director of the 5-Star Royal Riviera notes a 67% loss in annual revenue with a season that lasted 4 and a half months. The palace only opened in June with an occupancy rate down by 43% and an average price drop of 30%.
“At Royal Riviera, we divided our occupancy rate in September by 4. We would have been better off staying closed. The scenario is equally bleak in October; we are closing in 15 days, putting all staff on partial unemployment.
It’s mainly the absence of American and Russian clients (45% of the clientele) between June and September that had a significant impact on our activity. Socially, we completed the season with half of our staff, 150 employees, with 80 this summer.”
The very dense conference allowed, during the question-and-answer session with the audience led by Philippe Bellissent, PhD in communication, to glimpse other variations of post-Covid tourism. The University of the Sea intends to associate all those who believe in tourism worthy of one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.
Philippe Bellissent, Paul Barelli
