2023-07-05 05:18:00
It is in English that Bruno Le Maire took the floor on CNN, this Tuesday evening, to address international viewers shocked by the images of the riots which broke out throughout France following the death of Nahel after a shot by a policeman.
Business leaders’ morale was picking up… just before the riots
The Minister of the Economy described this death as ” tragedy “, at a time ” unacceptable » et « unforgivable “, before trying to reassure. ” This will have no impact on French growth, on French attractiveness or on the tourism français,” he claimed. ” The French economy is solid, the daily life of French citizens is not threatened by what happened “, he added. “We are returning to a calmer situation. »
« France is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and we will do everything to keep it that way, naturally guaranteeing the safety of all tourists on French soil. “, also declared the minister in an interview with the British daily The Telegraph.
France hopes to receive King Charles III “ in the coming months “, he added, while the visit of the monarch had been canceled at the end of March due to social protests against the pension reform.
« No waves of cancellations in Paris ” (government)
Earlier in the day, the French government had already wanted to be reassuring about a possible impact of the riots on tourism in Paris, at the start of the summer tourist season and one year before the Olympic Games organized in the capital. ” You have to keep your cool, we don’t have a wave of cancellations in Paris “, said the Minister Delegate for Tourism, Olivia Grégoire. ” We hold on to the tourism “, she had insisted. The platforms interviewed by its teams shared “ a wriggle at -0.5, -2%, but that does not allow any conclusions to be drawn “, had assured the minister, who must meet this week with tourism professionals.
Olivia Grégoire seems to contradict the boss of the Paris Tourist Office, Jean-François Rial, for whom the situation is more critical, with ” thousands of cancellations “, which he had evaluated on Sunday for AFP ” around 20-25% on international customers in early July in the French capital. ” We had a 25% growth in American customers in Paris since the beginning of the year, which compensated for the absence of Chinese and Russians, and we were particularly hitting the high end. “, he had specified. Japanese, Chinese, American and South American customers are particularly considered to be particularly sensitive to security issues.
Tourism: “The return of international customers continues”, says Olivia Grégoire
For hotels, “activity should remain good”
The employers’ union GNC, the National Group of Hotel Chains, has identified ” between 2 and 5% drop on (the) objectives for the first ten days of July » Who ” were very good, “indicated its president, Jean-Virgile Crance, referring to a prejudice” much more moral and sometimes material for the establishments affected “. The activity ” should remain good in the summer of 2023, barring a turnaround in the internal security situation “, he told AFP.
Vandalized businesses: “cancellations of social or tax charges on a case-by-case basis”
Postponement of PGE, partial unemployment, shift in sales … Calls from companies have multiplied since the start of urban violence a week ago. “When your business has been completely burnt down, when it is the work of a lifetime that has been reduced to ashes, the State must be on your side and there can be cancellations of social or tax charges at the on a case-by-case basis for the most affected merchants”, estimated Bruno Le Maire during a trip to Arpajon in Essonne.
No figures were given immediately on the number of companies that could be affected by this exceptional measure, at a time when the State refuses to draw a new “no matter what”, burdened by a public debt which crossed 3,000 billion euros in the first quarter of 2023. “ There was time for emotion, moral support ” to entrepreneurs, now comes “ encryption time “Damage, it is argued in the entourage of the Minister Delegate for Trade and SMEs Olivia Grégoire, also present during the trip. ” A thousand vandalized shops is 1,000 too many “, Bercy insists to AFP. ” But a large part of the territory was not affected » and after the first nights of riots marked by numerous lootings and destruction of businesses, “we are going towards a lull”we nuance from the same source.
There is therefore no question of launching costly dedicated support systems, while the government continues to show its desire to control public accounts. Requested by the CPME, the postponement of the payment of the maturities of loans guaranteed by the State is thus not part of the options considered at Bercy. As for the one-week extension of the summer sales, it is for the moment a simple ” contingency for Olivia Grégoire.
(With AFP)
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