“Our establishments are not outlets”: hoteliers and restaurateurs do not want to be “collateral victims” of violence

Catering and hotel industry professionals, who are "on the front line" in the face of "unacceptable" violence that occurred on Saturday on the sidelines of protests against the high cost of living, stated this Sunday, October 18, that they refuse to be used as "punching bags." "Our establishments are not punching bags. Our professionals cannot be, demonstration after demonstration, the ones who pay the price for the violence," lamented on Sunday the new president of the Union of Hotel and Restaurant Trades and Industries (Umih), Franck Chaumes, as quoted in a press release from the main hotel sector organization.

"This violence striking our establishments is unacceptable," Umih noted in the press release, pointing out that "the right to work, to undertake business, and to welcome customers in safety" constitutes a fundamental freedom, just as much as the right to protest. "We do not want to be collateral victims" of this violence, added the new vice-president of Umih, Valentin Prudon, on Sunday on RMC, while launching an "appeal for calm." The vandalism and looting that occurred on Saturday on the sidelines of protests against the high cost of living in several major French cities led to "de facto cancellations" in establishments that became "inaccessible due to the violence," he explained.

Numerous establishments closed

Noting that it was still too early to provide precise figures on the impact on the activity of the hotels and restaurants concerned, he nevertheless emphasized that many establishments had to close in anticipation of the protests or had seen their activity slow down. In its press release, Umih is calling on its members to quickly contact its departmental branches in order to "quickly establish a precise and comprehensive assessment of the consequences of these events."

Such scenes of chaos also affect "the international image projected by France, the world's leading tourist destination," observed Valentin Prudon. Saturday's violence occurred just as "all lights were green" for the All Saints' Day holidays starting this weekend, following an "average" summer season marked notably by heatwaves and wildfires, he said. "It feels like we never see the light at the end of the tunnel with the succession of crises in recent years," lamented Valentin Prudon.