This Thursday morning, in the Christmas chalets at the foot of Strasbourg Cathedral, traders waver between resignation and anger. A strike by SNCF controllers will disrupt TGV round trips from Friday to Monday morning. A strike that could be renewed for the holiday season has warned the unions. “It’s the first big weekend for us, it was going well and boom!, enrages a shopkeeper. Looks like they do it on purpose. »
According to forecasts, only one out of three TGVs is announced in the Grand-Est and already SMS and emails are sent to customers to inform them of the maintenance or name of their journey. “I understand the motivation of the strikers, they want us to think of them, but they don’t think of us, they don’t care,” says another trader in despair. It must be said that the Strasbourg Christmas market attracts more than two million visitors each year.
This Thursday morning, while the cauldrons of mulled wine are starting to heat up, some traders are worried while others remain dubious at this bad news, almost resigned. “It’s like every year in fact, so of course we’re going to be impacted, but it should be fine,” smiles a seller of delicacies. “It is above all the repetitive side of these strikes that gives a bad image to the Capital of Christmas destination, adds a shopkeeper. Over the years, many people will ask themselves questions before planning a trip here. »
“Cancellations already”
Concerns and fears shared by Véronique Siegel, hotelier and president of Union of Trades and Industries of the Hotel Industry of Bas-Rhin. “We are beyond fear because we have already recorded cancellations. The first on Wednesday and this Thursday morning again. Customers call to find out until when they can cancel without charge because they are trying to see if their trains are maintained or not, because they are not sure of the return. We regret, we are angry, gets angry the president. For this weekend, it is hoped that people will come by other means of transport, but honestly, it is not sure. On the other hand, it creates a climate of mistrust and clearly, those who were planning to leave, who had not necessarily yet made reservations for the end of the year, will undoubtedly revise their plans so as not to find themselves stuck in transport. .
“It’s a blow that we did not need, continues the president of Umih 67. Because we are still coming out of two complicated years, a year 2023 which promises to be extremely uncertain. So there, we were optimistic because we had booking portfolios that were satisfactory and that let us hope to have at least a breath of fresh air to pay our expenses. It’s a blow that we would have done without.
A “dirty blow” even for Sassi Ben Mourdi, representative of the fairgrounds of Strasbourg. “It will have a very negative impact. These are our biggest weekends, the SNCF announced that they were going to add trains, and there they remove some. It gets complicated.” Complicated ? The situation becomes so for David and Sarah, American tourists whose TGV for Paris tomorrow seems to be canceled. “We don’t really know where to go to sleep tomorrow night,” the young couple told us. We’ll have to find a hotel, it’s expensive at Christmas and we don’t really know if there’s room. We’re going to get a bus, you see. »