Will the expected deconfliction on 11 May immediately result in the reopening of the hotels?
Philippe Marguet - The hotels already have to be open. There are a lot of vagueness today. It is said that decontamination will begin on 11 May, but that cafés, restaurants and hotels will remain closed until further notice. We are seeing prefectoral decrees that do not authorise hotels to welcome unnecessary customers and that risk being maintained after 11 May. With the start of summer and people perhaps wanting to go on holiday, how will all this be organised? It's far from obvious. It's not easy to plan ahead with all this uncertainty. We'll have to be pragmatic and follow the announcements so that the operational side can react quickly.
When will business customers return?
P. M. - I'm convinced that the business clientele will be the first to return. Today, between a quarter and a third of the hotels in our network, those that don't have a restaurant, remain open and cater not just for healthcare professionals, but also for technicians, people who are there to carry out maintenance work in industry, for example. However, activity is very low. Even though we're coming up to summer, business activity will no doubt be higher than in previous years. The configuration will, I think, be quite different with business activity that lasts longer in the summer calendar. We can imagine that industries and businesses that are traditionally closed in August will remain open. We'll need to be highly responsive and adaptable. Hoteliers will have to work their local markets and support the industries that will be ramping up.
And what about MICE customers?
P. M. - All our business activity also depends on our seminar, meeting and events clientele, and here it is clearly very difficult to plan ahead since practically everything is at a standstill or has been cancelled. How quickly will people come together, particularly in the face of the risk of a second wave? These are elements that are very difficult to estimate. Before September, we don't see much happening. And even then, it's not certain that everything will be feasible in September; people will be waiting to see what happens. Furthermore, will the major trade fairs held in October and November be maintained? Will they attract the same number of visitors? Despite all these uncertainties, I think that business customers will be the first to return to the hotels.
How will the independent hotel sector get through this crisis?
P. M. - The recovery will necessarily be long and perilous for independent hoteliers. There is real economic uncertainty. When your establishment is closed for two or three months and you have no visibility on the future, it's very anxiety-provoking. Especially as the expected recovery is likely to be at just 50%, or even 30-50% of normal activity. Economically, it's going to be complicated. The aim of a cooperative such as ours is to be stronger together, and we are very attentive to the expectations of hoteliers to mitigate this situation as best we can.
Are independent establishments suffering more than others from the current situation?
P. M. - The fragility of the independent hotel sector already existed and will not be resolved by this crisis. Many of these are small businesses that, to a greater extent than others, are facing new competition and the weight gained by online agencies. As a hotel group, we've been thinking about this for some years now. We've invested heavily in technology to offer our members the widest possible distribution to GDSs and agencies. We've done a lot of groundwork, and I'm delighted that we've done it, because it's preparing us well for the expected upturn in business.
This situation leads us to reflect on a fairer, more balanced future.
Could the current crisis in the tourism sector be changing the relationship between hoteliers and online agencies?
P. M. - This crisis could moving lines. This situation leads us to think about a fairer, more balanced future. The distributors are very powerful, and very greedy too. A number of decisions are taken unilaterally, which is difficult for the independent hotel industry. We need to think about a whole range of issues and find solutions to make this recovery a success for everyone. We need to build it together. A number of organisations and unions are working towards this goal. As a hotel group, it is important to initiate this discussion, to start rebuilding a more balanced way of working. Because today, it is not.
The recovery will also involve hygiene measures and health regulations. How will the establishments in your network adapt to this new situation?
P. M. - The hotel industry is bound to evolve in response to consumer expectations, barrier gestures, at health and hygiene rules. Customers won't immediately forget what happened. People's minds will be scarred for some time. So we have to be prepared to do this in good conditions, both for the customers and for the teams. Our central purchasing unit offers a number of products, including masks - but it's hard to get them - Plexiglas elements for receptions and cleaning products. We need to be part of the economic recovery, while respecting all the rules that will be imposed to avoid a second wave, but which could also affect the hotel industry in the longer term. We think that we will also need to be more flexible in our offers, prices and cancellation conditions to cope with the current uncertainties of both business and leisure customers.
