Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate in charge of SMEs, Trade, Crafts and Tourism, made a trip to Côte-d’Or on Saturday – to Morey-Saint-Denis and Marsannay-la-Côte – on the wine tourism theme. A key sector for the region, where several areas of development are possible according to her.
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Today at 18:43 | updated today at 18:45
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. »
Upon her arrival in Morey-Saint-Denis, Olivia Grégoire was welcomed by the prefect, Franck Robine. Photo LBP /G. G.
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 Bourgogne-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. »
The Minister Delegate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Trade, Crafts and Tourism, here between the prefect and the sub-prefect of Beaune, Myriel Porteous, confessed a very particular attachment to Burgundy. Photo LBP /G. G.
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. »
“We have to restore rural businesses in Côte-d’Or”
In addition to her wine tourism objectives, Olivia Grégoire addressed another theme on Saturday, that of rural commerce. “We have in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté a few towns that have been fairly deserted in terms of trade”, underlined the Minister Delegate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Trade, Crafts and Tourism. “In March, I launched a call for projects to support rural trade with 12 million euros. If we want to make the tourist stay when he is there, we also have to improve a little and support the development of businesses in our rural area. For the past three months, project leaders have been submitting projects to open or take over a rural business or an itinerant business. I have received hundreds of files, you can benefit from financing of up to €80,000 for a permanent business and up to €25,000 for an itinerant business. I will announce next week a first salvo of 80 winners,” she said.
“I was surprised not to have any files in the department”
And the minister took the opportunity to slip a message: “There will be projects supported in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. I also encourage actors from the Côte-d’Or to apply. We need to restore rural businesses [dans ce territoire], there is still funding to be found, it’s not complicated. We have to mobilize the Côte-d’Or, because I was surprised not to have any files in the department ”.
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