Marie-Laure Desmet 2nd Forum of interregional mobility – 20 & 21 February 2014

Destination Contracts- an innovative

tool for the development of French

tourism destinations

Atout France, GIE (groups of economic

interest) involving 1150 public and private

stakeholders in tourism, is responsible for

contributing to the development of the

tourism industry, the biggest economic

sector in France.

→ To promote France as a destination via the

marketing of its brand and the value of its

destinations and sectors (35 offices worldwide)

→ To increase the quality, attractiveness and

sustainability of tenders

→ To push the investment projects to stimulate

innovation and entrepreneurship

AN AGENCY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF

FRENCH TOURISM

DESTINATION FRANCE - BACKGROUND

The most popular tourist destination in the

world (83 million international visitors in

2012), but

Increasing competition abroad (8%

PDM<market share in 2012> vs 10.6 % in

1980)

3rd in the world for tourist spending

France offers a rich and varied

destination, but with a complex and

fragmented supply as tourism competence

is shared between different levels of

government

4

A key challenge

To consolidate

existing

destinations and to

help a new scale of

relevant territories

emerge around

strong brands

Dev

elo

pm

ent

stra

tegi

es

Tou

rism

st

rate

gies

Territory /hard

Accommodation

Access / transport

Natural and cultural heritage

Facilities, activities, services...

Strategy/soft

Marketing strategy (brand, observation position, distribution, figures..)

Quality

Training Events structuring

Observation

Destination Management

Market expectations

THE CONCEPT OF DESTINATION-REMINDER

DESTINATION CONTRACTS-PRINCIPLES

A concrete and operational response to

the need to act together to achieve a

common goal of development, around a

shared, coordinated and mutual strategy,

bringing together the key players in a

destination beyond the usual boundries.

This collective approach is at the heart of

Minister Sylvia Pinel's politics, which

combines DGCIS and Atout France to

assist in structuring some of these

contracts, supporting major themes and

value internationally.

6

Destination contract

≠ Tourism

development

scheme

3 signed contracts

– around forty

currently being

considered

DESTINATION CONTRACTS – ELIGIBILITY

CONDITIONS

7

A relevant territory An innovative project that brings added value to the usual tools An action plan that addresses both supply, and promotion, as well as cross-cutting activities such as reception, training and/or economic intelligence Public and private signatories involving all elements of the chain of relvevant service to the specific theme Objectives to gain international clientele

EVERY

CONTRACT

IS UNIQUE

Various

themes :

business

tourism,

gentle

roaming,

memorial

tourism…

DESTINATION CONTRACTS –OPERATING

PRINCIPLES

8

A long -term commitment (3-5 years) with annualized action plans and associated with mobilization of resources

Commitments taking into account the areas of competence of each and their complementary

Collaborative work, organized management

Resources to match ambitions

DRAFT

MODE AS

PRINCIPLE

DESTINATION CONTRACTS – PLACE OF

MOBILITY

Key players in the tourism services chain (access and/or

mobility to destination)

Most often associated in destination contracts but more or less

involved depending on the central themes

Commitments that must produce the reciprocal value for the

partnership to be attractive (win/win)

9

DESTINATION CONTRACTS- SOME EXAMPLES

10

An objective to regain the British market

3 components : a major marketing campaign in the UK market, working on

reception, a joint effort to gain economic intelligence

Brittany Ferries : an active player

Participation in the financing of the communication campaign and its relay

Participation in the promotion of destinations (conferences on boats…)

Participation in economic intelligence groups (sharing data)

… and in return : a strong and enriched visibility

Destination contract for the West of France (regions of Bretagne, Normandie, Pays de la Loire)

DESTINATION CONTRACTS- SOME EXAMPLES

11

A development objective concerning travelers from major European routes, on

foot (chemin de Compostelle), by bicycle (Canal des deux mers and vallée de

l’Aveyron) or by boat (Canal des deux mers)

Several components : the structuring of routes, development of heritage sites,

restaurants and shops close to these routes (economic benefits), international

promotion, economic intelligence

Three mobility players associated with this contract : France vélo tourism (French

cycling tourism), SNCF, VNF

Destination contract for Tarn and Garonne

DESTINATION CONTRACTS- SOME EXAMPLES

12

French cycling tourism

-Help the deployment of the brand

Accueil vélo (welcome bike)

- Assistance in setting up and running

the route committee « canal des deux

mers »(two seas canal)..

SNCF

VNF

Objective to create products « one-way » train +

bicycle

- Partenariat en matière de

valorisation de patrimoine

- Observation

-…

In the end, a partnership framework that allows to pragmatically

combine 'transport' partners around projects that can meet the

challenges facing the destination tourism side of mobility and

efficiency on the transport side

Distribution of tourist flows

(space + time)

Reduce the use of cars/ facilitate

access and visibility

Increase the quality of tourists

experience

Improve occupancy rates

Enh

anci

ng

the

att

ract

ive

ne

ss

of

the

de

stin

atio

n C

on

tribu

er au

D

EVELO

PP

EMEN

T

éq

uilib

ré et d

urab

le d

e la

de

stinatio

n

CONCLUSIONS

Co

ntr

ibu

er

au

DEV

ELO

PP

EMEN

T é

qu

ilib

ré

et d

ura

ble

de

la d

est

inat

ion

Stren

gthe

nin

g the

sustain

able

d

ime

nsio

n/facilitatio

n acce

ss