The date of deconfinement set by the government to May 11, does not concern restaurants, cafes and hotels. Those will still have to wait like all the places with high attendance.
No reopening date was announced after the meeting at the highest state summit on Friday morning. But one thing is certain, the recovery will be subject to strict sanitary measures.
A real headache
Government directives aim to prevent the virus from circulating. They recommend a distance of at least one meter between individuals, and tables of less than eight people.
For professionals in the hotel and restaurant industry, this is a headache, as the situations are so different.
How, for example, to organize the same social distancing in a large dining room, and in the confined space of a pub?
“It is going to be difficult“, says Laurent Lieutaud, owner of the Red Lion pub in Marseille.”In breweries like ours, we focus on the warm atmosphere, the concentration and bringing people together. ”
The rule of a space of one meter between people will impose a new mode of operation.
“Among the lines of thought, I have heard of plexiglass bubbles to separate people”, continues Laurent Lieutaud. Who will pay for these installations? It can be very expensive to adapt them to tables. “
“We must also avoid people moving around too much and crossing paths. However, in pubs, the service is never done indoors. There, we would still have to invest by installing new systems on our existing boxes to take their orders. Another additional cost.“
Several thousand euros of additional cost
In Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), Pierre-Laurent Telle, the manager of the restaurant La Volta is already thinking about the “after”, to be able to open as soon as possible.
On the esplanade of the port prohibited to tourists and regulars following the confinement, he plans, with other restaurateurs, to ask for three meters of additional land use.
This would allow it to arrange all of its 120 covers on its terrace and maintain its musical scene.
“It’s going to be Lego!, recognizes the boss from Menton. We will also move the tables back in front of the stage because I would like to avoid the plexiglass in front of the singers. There has to be music every night when it reopens, it’s in our DNA! “
To this are added hydroalcoholic gel (which he wants to put on all tables), masks and gloves for his staff, a plexiglass window at the cash register …
The toilets will also be arrowed on the ground and regularly cleaned, “every one or two hours”. An additional cost, in addition to birthdays and weddings that will probably have to be canceled …
“The starting stock for three weeks should cost us between 3 and 4,000 euros, then between 700 and 800 euros per month.”
A “significant expense” which will inevitably have an impact on turnover, but the manager does not imagine raising prices.
The same rules as for surgery
Friday morning at the Elysée Palace, a protocol for health measures developed by professionals in the sector, was given to the Head of State.
Among the people who worked on this white guide, is a former dental surgeon who has become a restaurateur, Jean-Christophe Vigne. It has two establishments in Marseille and Saint-Rémy de Provence.
“Due to my former profession as a dental surgeon, I know the rules of aseptic, disinfection and antiseptic. I applied some to the restoration”says the former surgeon.
As “wash hands and forearms according to soap surgery standards for at least 30 seconds, at least once an hour”.
For this Marseille restaurateur, the social distancing demanded by the state will reduce the number of places in restaurants by half.
“However, working with half of its turnover is not viable in this sector. It is better to reinforce the health barriers by training our staff in this. “
Among the other recommendations of the former surgeon, deliveries will be deposited “outside the premises, and the goods will be released from their packaging and then brought to their processing area using gloves”.
Clothes worn at work “will be changed daily. They must be washed at least 30 minutes at 60 ° “.
Customers’ habits will also have to change: “No more salt, no pepper, no bread, no jug of water at the table. The waiters, equipped with masks, charlottes and gloves, will come to serve. “
At the hotel, a route for customers
In the hotel industry, the puzzle continues. Not only because most hotels offer breakfast in the dining room, and the same catering rules will have to apply.
But because hoteliers will also have to manage the arrival and departure of their customers.
One of the sanitary rules being to avoid the circulation of people, to avoid that of the virus, the hoteliers will have to organize.
“We will have to differentiate departures and arrivals, by routes, barriers or lines”, explains Nicolas Guyot, vice-president of the UMIH13 hotel sector.
“We will have to interfere in the lives of our customers. For example, ask them what time they plan to leave? And if there is already someone at the time indicated, they will be asked to wait or advance their departure “.
LIVE | Presentation of the action plan for companies in the hotel and commercial catering, tourism and leisure spaces sector.https://t.co/KR8vHR1uBl
– Élysée (@Elysee) April 24, 2020
–Among the sanitary tracks envisaged, the keys could all be put back in a sort of urn, “in order to disinfect them and avoid the receptionist touching them”.
Like everywhere else in hotels and restaurants, the staff will wear masks and gloves. “The customer will expect a hygiene guarantee from all of us. We must be ready to respond to this request.”
When you walk into a bar, you won’t be looking for the same things anymore
On these health standards depends the reopening of cafes, bars, and restaurants (hotels have not been officially required to close). They could prove too restrictive for certain companies in the sector.
A cocktail bar owner thinks not to reopen: “after a drink or two, my clients start dancing. The atmosphere is warm … It will no longer be possible ” he said.
For Arnaud Lafargue, the director of the coffee-brewery branch of UMIH 13, “this will change the customer-staff relationship. Of course, when you enter a bar, you will not go looking for what you found before. The restart will be the same for everyone, across the country. And everyone will play the game. Customers and staff alike. “
Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire clarified that the executive wanted to “give time to reopen in the best sanitary conditions. “
A new meeting will be held in late May to “set a reopening date “, depending on the epidemic. “We give ourselves a fortnight to watch how the health situation in the country is changing”added the minister. “
I have created a restaurant on 07/02/20 opening on 04/01/20 I have not returned, No reference turnover for state aid no entitlement to credits nor to operating loss via my insurance.
Who else is there for us apart from seeing our lives fall apart?– Bibard Florian (@BibardFlorian) April 24, 2020
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But it will be too late for some
Some establishments have already missed their start to the season, linked to tourism and sunny days. This is the case of many bars and restaurants on the Côte d’Azur, used to a wealthy foreign clientele.
“90% of Saint-Tropez stores will not open“, specifies Marc Chemin, director of the UMIH 13. “The replacement of their usual clientele by a French clientele is not certain either. We do not know much. Will there be closure between regions, between borders?”
In Menton, Pierre-Laurent Telle hopes to be able to reopen his establishment on June 15, “to be able to do a little summer season. If we resume on July 15, we’re dead!”
Signs were particularly damaged by the weeks of confinement. This morning, the executive made several gestures in their favor.
Partial unemployment will be extended for those who cannot restart their activity on May 11.
The government is also considering setting up a long-term investment fund to revive this sector and help businesses recover.
“We will organize a meeting with insurance companies and banks to find out how to fund this fund, added the minister. Nothing would be worse than rushing to reopen, which would force us to close again.“
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