“Postponements, cancellations, and no visibility”: for the event sector, it has started again as at the heart of the Covid crisis “. Deputy Treasurer of the Toulouse CCI, Patrice Falcou is also a caterer and organizer of receptions in the Pink City. And he receives like a boomerang the repercussions of each turn of the screw by the government in the face of the epidemic: “As soon as there was the first announcement (linked to the fifth wave, editor’s note), on a cancellation record. We already only have business in progress, and we no longer record any reservations, ”he said.

Faced with the economic fallout from the government’s announcements to stem this new wave, event and catering professionals have also launched a real cry of alarm, Friday 2 December.

“Until two weeks ago, a gradual reconstruction”

And yet. All the lights were green, for business leaders in Haute-Garonne. Until two weeks ago… and the appearance of the fifth wave. When presenting his office, this same Friday, December 2, the new president of the Toulouse CCI Patrick Piedrafita drew up a quick assessment of the economic activity of Haute-Garonne.

And according to him, companies are actually managed to bounce back these last months, after the first episodes of the health crisis: “Until two weeks ago, all the indicators showed a gradual reconstruction”. In the third quarter of 2021, the consular body even noted a ” activity retake in all sectors ”.

63% of leaders were optimistic

Still according to Patrick Piedrafita, who relies on the figures of a recent survey by the CCI among its members, if the leaders of Haute-Garonne had to “face difficulties, especially in terms of recruitment and supply” , they displayed a steely morale, a sign of a great capacity for “resilience”: 40% of companies have been registered an increase in activity in the last semester compared to 2020, and 24% on the same employee in the last quarter. In short, in the end, no less than “63% of leaders were optimistic”. But that was two weeks ago. An eternity in the age of Covid.

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