how are nightclub owners preparing for the reopening?
The date for the reopening of nightclubs is now known. Thursday January 20, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the reopening of nightclubs on February 16, six weeks after their closure. Good news for the owners of establishments, whose activity has been heavily impacted since the start of the health crisis.
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Bosses reassured
In Toulouse, the news was expected. Indeed, this new calendar offers new prospects for night establishments, the reopening of which was originally scheduled for January 7.
Contacted by The Independent Opinion, Ivo DanafPresident of the Union of catering and hotel trades of Haute-Garonne (Umih 31) and owner of the nightclub Le Mauve in the center of Toulouse, welcome this announcement. “We are satisfied and reassured to know the date of reopening of our establishments,” he said. It is therefore time to prepare for these high places of Toulouse nightlife.
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Mandatory mask wearing?
However, this opening will be subject to restrictions. The maskwho was already mandatory before closing discos in December, could always be when reopening next February 16. This was mentioned by the Minister of Health Olivier Veran and the prime ministerand Jean Castex last Thursday.
A inconsistent measurement According to Ivo Danaf:
There is no point in putting on masks. It would be an illusion to think that people will wear it while dancing and sipping their drink. It is a sanitary aberration. It’s taking us for idiots. In addition, our establishments are equipped with powerful permanent ventilation systems to renew the air”.
Among the new measures in force, that of the vaccination pass, which will be essential to go dancing. A negative test will not be imposed in addition to the vaccination pass.
“An irresistible loss”
If this announcement bodes well for nightclub managersthe pill does not pass regarding the various closures required by the government in recent months. “We are always in theincomprehension faced with the closure of nightclubs. It’s a senseless justice“, Accuses Ivo Danaf. Convinced that the opening of nightclubs has no real impact on the number of contaminations, he adds: “either we close everything, or we leave everything open, otherwise it’s injustice “.
Despite government aid,the damage suffered by night establishments is indelible “, regrets Ivo Danaf. The Purple boss particularly regrets this last closure, while “the month of December represents 20 to 25% of turnover annual because of the end-of-year celebrations”. He denounces:
We were only able to open five months out of two years. This means that we have had no activity for 18 months! Never has a sector been so impacted. Our businesses will suffer.”
According to calculations by the SNDLL (National Union of Discotheques and Leisure Places), on the 1,648 discos what France had before the pandemic, 25%were struggling when they last reopened and 131 in compulsory liquidation . Ivo Danaf estimates this figure at 15% in Haute Garonne.
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