With 4,836 establishments and 8,694 employees as of January 1, 2024, according to the CCI of Vaucluse, accommodation and catering represent the second “most represented activity in Vaucluse (in number of establishments)”, behind construction.
According to the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries of Vaucluse (Umih 84), the sector even employs 12,000 people. The sector weighs heavily on the local economy. It brings it to life and energizes it all year round.
Like construction, however, the hotel and catering industry is suffering and running out of steam. The reason is the increase in the costs of raw materials and energy. But also the rise in interest rates, the end of the Urssaf moratorium (staggering the payment of contributions), and “this music of PGE reimbursement (state-guaranteed loans granted in the context of the health crisis, Editor’s note) which penalizes many companies“, points out Patrice Mounier, president of Umih 84.
“2025 will be very difficult”
In 2023 in Vaucluse, 860 business leaders, including 80% in catering, lost their jobs (+51.9% in one year), according to the Altares/GSC Entrepreneur Employment Observatory. In 2024, the number of business failures is expected to increase further. And “2025 will be a very difficult year, knowing that the country has been at a standstill for five months“, predicts Patrice Mounier.
