Bpifrance and Banque des Territoires will mobilize a global budget of €3.6bn from now to 2023 in financing, investment and support solutions for the tourism industry, as part of the Plan for Tourism announced on 14 May by the French government. The aim is to support the resilience and prepare the future of the tourism industry.
France is the world’s leading tourist destination, with this sector accounting for 7.4% of its GDP and around two million jobs. Owing to the health crisis, all economic stakeholders in the tourism sector were forced to shut down in mid-March. The Caisse des Dépôts Group, which is a long-standing partner in the sector, is helping it to overcome the crisis and invent the tourism of the future by rolling out a €3.6bn plan through Bpifrance and Banque des Territoires.
Bpifrance is the operational entry point for companies and Banque des Territoires the entry point for local authorities, property companies and semi-public companies. This plan should assist around 11,500 stakeholders in the sector. A digital one-stop shop1 has been set up at www.plan-tourisme.fr.
Actions taken by Bpifrance:
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The total lending capacity for Tourism is €1bn and the individual amount for each loan has been increased to €2m;
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€400m in 12-month loan repayment deferrals have been granted to businesses in the sector;
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€500m in equity and quasi-equity will be invested in businesses in the sector;
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1,500 company bosses will benefit from specific support.
Measures adopted by Banque des Territoires
Banque des Territoires is mobilising €1.7bn in cash, equity and debt to support the changes to and strengthening of the tourism sector between now and the start of the Olympic Games in 2024 and the Rugby World Cup in 2023:
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€800m in equity to support the sector with a strong focus on sustainability and digitalisation;
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€700m in long-term debt to support the repositioning of the offering as a flanking measure to equity injections;
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€21m in additional tourism engineering loans to help professionals to define sustainable destination strategies;
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A platform to promote the tourism offering in France, which will be available in the 1st half of 2021;
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A €170m-budget to fund 3- to 6-month rental payment deferrals granted to businesses in its portfolio;
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A €93m-budget to provide liquidity support to micro-businesses and €230m through the creation of regional emergency funds in conjunction with the Regions and local authorities2.
(1) It will also contain links to the websites of the Regions, which have set up resilience funds and Recovery loans.
(2) From the end of March, Banque des Territoires, in conjunction with several Regions, has set up resilience funds designed to provide interest-free reimbursable advances to micro-businesses.