Olivia Grégoire discusses the future of wine tourism in Bourgogne Franche-Comté

How is wine tourism doing in France, and particularly in Bourgogne Franche-Comté?

“In this region, we are still at the beginning of what it is possible to do. Today, France is the world’s leading wine exporter, and in Burgundy, one in two bottles is exported. A third of tourists who come to France cite wine and gastronomy as their main reason for choosing, and we have around 10 million tourists who come specifically to discover French wines and vineyards, 42% of whom are foreigners. The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region is also a region that attracts a lot of foreign customers, since more than one out of two visitors comes from abroad. »

“Promote turnkey circuits”

Have you identified certain areas of development?

“I have several goals. This summer, I will launch a strategy to encourage regions that wish to do so to promote fairly simple turnkey circuits. Ideally, I aim for the thirteen regions to be able to offer at least two or three circuits, which would make it possible to have a somewhat rationalized offer of around forty circuits. I do hope that Bourgogne Franche-Comté will respond to the call for expressions of interest that I [ferai] in September. I am going to launch an experiment this summer with three regions (Paca, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Pays de la Loire) and we will then extend this work to all volunteer regions. »

Burgundy Franche-Comté can therefore do better in terms of wine tourism, in your opinion?

“Just under 2 million tourists visit the Burgundy wine region. I’ll start by telling you: Bourgogne Franche-Comté needs to do more. Because Burgundy Franche-Comté has everything to do more. Today, it is the fourth most visited French region by wine tourists, especially behind Provence. Burgundy must manage to get back on the podium, possibly second behind Bordeaux, because there is a gap with the reputation, the excellence of Burgundy wines. To overcome this discrepancy, it is necessary to improve both the visibility of the circuits [et] the network of wine cities, in Beaune, but also beyond Beaune. There is also a question of tourist promotion at the regional level of the “oenotourism” action which perhaps needs to be reinforced a little. »

“There is the issue of the lack of accommodation”

What are the main obstacles to overcome?

“Among the brakes, there is the visibility of the routes, but we must also improve the diversity of the offers. Here, there is everything for a weekend of wine tourism, but there is also everything for a more sporty, historical and cultural weekend. It is necessary that in terms of diversity […] and of packaging offers, the region may be committed alongside the State and respond to this call that we will make at the start of the school year. Then there is the issue of the lack of accommodation. We must be able to do better in such a region, with high-quality hotels commensurate with the grandeur of the vintages to continue to attract tourists who spend. »

In this inflationary context, how is the summer tourist season shaping up?

“The projections we have for tourist numbers are excellent. The weekends in May were exceptional. Tourism is holding up well and we still have the prospect of the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year, which suggests to us that we are on a positive trend. If we focus on tourism in Côte-d’Or, since the beginning of 2023, the city of Dijon has welcomed more than 62,000 visitors, an increase of 25% compared to last year, which is still quite impressive. You now have tourism, in Dijon precisely, which is in full development and which is also spreading throughout the rest of the region. »