Overview

While Gironde continues to be a popular tourist destination, it is important not to sit back and get too comfortable. Its countless assets must now take on a positive, structured, united approach, without which it will not succeed faced with increasingly stiff competition.

Until now, public policies have mainly been focused on supporting development intended to co-ordinate the area by creating stability between different areas. For this reason, the policies contributed to the development of infrastructure and promoted more effective distribution of the fruits of the tourist economy in all areas of Gironde. 

Amongst the most notable effects are the emergence of high-quality facilities, the development and preservation of the coastline and the creation of an extensive network of cycle tracks and hiking trails.

This action has contributed to making Gironde one of the leading French départements in terms of tourist breaks, improving both economic activity and quality of life for the inhabitants of Gironde.

Today, the competitiveness of tourism in Gironde must be consolidated to respond to an increasingly complex and competitive market. While the economic impact of tourism on the gross domestic product of the département continues to grow in absolute terms, it appears that Gironde is losing market share to new international destinations, as well as French destinations which have opted for more active commercial policies over the last few years.    

Faced with this situation, the departmental Assembly hopes to complement its ambitious public action in terms of development with an active, targeted development policy.

Its aim is to create a "Gironde tourist destination".

How?

• by using a strong communication and promotion policy, notably with the development of e-tourism
• by proposing a collaborative partnership approach with tourist associations and institutions,
• by adapting our offering to be more accessible and innovative,
• by establishing quality measures to guarantee a high-quality offering.

The scheme

The new scheme is outlined in the form of a mini website which will be transferred to CD-ROM and distributed to all organisations in the tourism sector in Gironde, but which will also be available to view online.

It is accompanied by the results of an analysis which led to the creation of the new scheme.

We invite you to discover the full departmental scheme for planning and development of tourism in Gironde for 2008-2013.