The situation remains catastrophic in the hotel industry. If leisure establishments can hope for a decent summer, city halls suffer enormously from the absence of business customers. The Association romande des hôteliers (ARH) invites the latter to return to hotels for its seminars.
Most hotels are open or will open in the coming days, said Hôtellerie romande in a press release. Seminars are authorized without limit on the number of people.
A company which wants to gather 20, 40 or 110 people can do it in a sufficiently large room which respects the sanitary rules. Due to the large spaces, hotels can easily implement social distancing measures, guarantee regular hand washing and ensure a regular disinfection process.
Weak trend
The ARH also invites all other potential customers to return to its establishments. Because the survival of a large segment of the industry is at stake in the coming weeks.
In March, the hotels were immediately emptied and remained so in April-May. In June, the same scenario emerges, explains Alain Becker director of the ARH, which represents 220 hotels in the cantons of Vaud, Friborg, Neuchâtel and Jura and their 5,000 employees.
The trend for reservations is not very strong. It is even more so for holiday apartments and campsites, adds Philippe Thuner, president of the ARH.
Death of the event
Public weekends allow some establishments in tourist regions (Vaud Alps, Riviera, Jura) to take a break. For the leisure segment, the prospects look good thanks to the Confederate tourists already present in ordinary times, he notes. In 2019, they represented 45% of Vaud nights, 60% of Friborg residents, 63% in Neuchâtel and even 83% in the Jura.
But in cities, and more generally in the lowlands, there is a hotel business that lives above all on business customers and those linked to events, “unfortunately dead for 2020”, regrets Alain Becker. It cannot count on an influx of Swiss or foreign tourists this summer.
If business customers do not take back possession of hotels, the situation will be catastrophic in the fall, in particular due to the colossal charges weighing on hotel establishments (rental, salary charges), he explains. An identical situation throughout the country.
Not without consequence
The association was forced to call the cantons for help. Friborg and Neuchâtel came to the aid of the hoteliers by granting five, respectively two million francs, for lost funds. Vaud hasn’t reacted yet, regrets Mr. Becker. Geneva has just announced a whole series of measures for 4.5 million.
A city or region that loses a significant part of its hotel infrastructure will eventually lose its congresses, conferences, events, sporting or cultural events, international schools and perhaps even its businesses, warns the ARH.
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