InvestigationThe players in several sectors are deprived of a particularly lucrative clientele with the cancellation of large professional gatherings. Enough to upset an essential part of the French economy.
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In front of the Palais des Congrès at Porte Maillot, in Paris, queues of taxis at a standstill, desperate for a client who will not come. The lobby of the Hyatt Regency, the 4-star hotel next to the Palace, remains deserted. Covid-19 pandemic requires, all events, exhibitions and conventions have been canceled. Without being able to move, business travelers remain absent subscribers.
A dark year for the capital, regularly distinguished in international rankings as the world’s leading convention destination. “It’s the stampede”, laments Corinne Menegaux. The director general of the Paris Convention and Tourism Office estimates that in 2020 the Covid-19 has led to the cancellation of some 800 trade fairs and conferences usually held in the capital. That is to say no less than 4 billion euros less economic benefits for the territory.
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Confined in front of their screen
While business travelers remain confined to their screens, hoteliers and restaurateurs are lamenting. Because the desertion of visitors coming for business, visiting a trade show or meeting their professional partners deprives them of the most lucrative part of their clientele. Benefiting from expense reports, a business traveler spends two to four times more than a traditional tourist, agree to say the actors of the sector. Across France, the holding of some 380,000 seminars and other professional events in 2018 enabled players in this ecosystem to benefit from 32 billion euros in spinoffs, estimates the audit firm EY.
“In 2020, 80% of events were canceled or postponed”, assesses Frédéric Pitrou, director general of the French Union of event professions
Fallout which should be much lower this year. “The decline in activity in 2020, observed by client companies in the business travel industry, is estimated between 60% and 70%”, says Michel Dieleman, president of the French Travel Management Association (AFTM). If, in June 2020, professionals still clung to the idea of a resumption in the beginning of the school year, the border restrictions and the assembly limits, imposed by the public authorities, quickly dampened their hopes. “Some are just starting to realize that the recovery is not going to happen right away”, says Corinne Menegaux.
The Radisson Hotels group reopened all of its hotels in June, except in Paris. But its regional director for Western Europe, Sébastien de Courtivron, quickly became disillusioned. “The business clientele was gradually returning, especially nationals, he recalls. Then the gatherings were restricted, the high masses of the laboratories canceled. Finally, there was the re-containment. “ Over the year 2020, the turnover was divided by three or four, laments the director, knowing that 4-star and 5-star hotels mainly live from business customers.
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