“We are potentially facing a cataclysm.” It is with these words that Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, summed up the situation experienced by the hotel and restaurant sector in the face of rising energy costs. An emergency situation that has led to the release of a budget of 5 to 10 million euros to support investments in energy renewal.
What feedback?
“The feedback from the field is all apocalyptic. Even worse than we expected,” says the president of the LR Region. “We are potentially facing a cataclysm the likes of which the hotel and restaurant industry has never known.”
“If measures are not taken very quickly, the impact of the energy crisis will be worse than that of covid on this entire sector. »
Laurent Wauquiez (LR President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region)
“The cost of energy could be multiplied by 5 or 7 for hotels, restaurants, cafés, discos, sometimes with dramatic situations. And Laurent Wauquiez cites the specific cases of various establishments, including an owner with a “700% increase in energy bills. We potentially have before us one of the greatest social plans of our economy. And this is not acceptable. »
Electricity bills too high for restaurateurs in the Puy-de-Dôme (October 2022)
What location?
“It is essential that the Government correct the copy and significantly extend the tariff shield for this sector and for that of industry. To this effect, an open letter will be sent to the government, jointly with the main representatives of the tourism, hotel and restaurant sectors of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. “For our part, we will release a support plan, with the means that are there, announced Laurent Wauquiez. We cannot compensate for price explosions. But we also don’t want to sit with our hands crossed. »
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The single-family house, an increasingly less accessible dream: “Difficult to build under 250 thousand euros”
What measures?
The goal is to support investment by factories so they can reduce their energy consumption. For this, an envelope from 5 to 10 million euros is immediately released.
- For the hotel sector : the aid can reach 100,000 euros (up to 20% of the costs).
- For catering : aid can reach 10,000 euros (up to 20% of expenses)
Negotiations will also be started, at regional level, with the operators, “to extract the best rates” in order to cover buildings or car parks in photovoltaic panels.
In numbers. In the region, tourism represents “just under 10% of the economy. With the restoration, the figure goes from 15 to 20 billion euros. We are the second tourist region of France. This represents 220,000 to 250,000 jobs. The hotel capacity is around 3,000 structures, to which must be added almost 1,200 between campsites, holiday centers and social housing. For almost 200 million overnight stays. »
Marion Chavot
