Removal of two public holidays: the hotel and restaurant industry is annoyed and estimates potential losses at 200 million

The tourism sector is in a state of alarm. Catherine Quérard, president of the French Hotel and Restaurant Association (GHR), estimated on Wednesday on RMC that her sector would lose "€200 million" in revenue if Parliament were to approve François Bayrou's proposal to abolish two public holidays . Easter Monday and May 8 could be affected.

"Our sector of activity works on public holidays, on Sundays, we already make a significant contribution to the economy, these are public holidays which are important for us," she added to Apolline Matin .

The Prime Minister wants to abolish Easter Monday on the grounds that it "no longer has any religious significance." But for hotels and restaurants, it represents "the launch of the tourist season." As for May 8, it is one of "the very important public holidays" for the hospitality sector, according to Catherine Quérard.

"This is where we have the most customers. We think of our customers, but also of our employees who are on duty on these days," she insists.

The GHR president puts forward another argument: "40% of French people don't go on vacation. So long weekends are also a way to take a short weekend and get some rest."

François Bayrou justified the choice of May 8th because of the proliferation of public holidays, which is hampering economic activity. "The month of May is very hampered for traditional economic activity, but it is not hampered for tourism. This is very important for us," proclaimed Catherine Quérard.

The latter says she is ready to "take a break on a public holiday" as an "act of solidarity," but she asks that the economic situation of her sector be taken into account. The GHR president assures that the sector's stakeholders will be received by the government.

"We are going to ask to work on this situation, at a time when we want to avoid overtourism and overcrowding. For us, it's important. We must work on these issues to avoid a drop in activity, which would be counterproductive to the collective effort," she concluded.