The main heritage sites of the Loire Valley

With the joint efforts of all the managers of the main tourist sites in the Loire Valley, the ambition is to turn the Loire Valley into an exceptional destination worthy of UNESCO international recognition by making the utmost of its inclusion in the World Heritage list.

Action under way since 2006, with a multiannual action plan 2007-2013.

Context

The Val de Loire Mission has been uniting the main Loire Valley sites together in a network since January 2006, at the request of the Centre region prefect, who is coordinating the Plan Loire Grandeur Nature, and with the support of the Centre and Pays de la Loire regional councils.

Objectives

The partners undertake to participate and help in renewing and increasing tourist numbers in the Loire Valley with a view to bringing cultural and economic gain to the main cultural, tourist and heritage sites there, as well as to the Loire Valley as a whole.

This is being carried out through a multiannual action plan involving chateaus and monuments, the partners of the Plan Loire Grandeur Nature (State, Regions), regional and county tourist institutions and the Val de Loire Mission.

Results

2006: Shared and validated assessment by all sites.

2007-2008: Development of a multiannual action plan (2007-2013), officially written down in the Charter of excellence of the main heritage sites in the Loire Valley.

The action plan has four key objectives:

promotion (Internet portal, priority markets, press relations, feasibility study of an inter-site pass),
quality (quality reference standard, benchmarking observatory),
accessibility – mediation (sense-based accessibility, cultural mediation and new technologies),
running the network

Find out more

- June 2006: Appointment of a firm specialising in tourist and cultural site management: L & R consulting
- July – August 2006: Meeting with the managers of 17 identified sites to take part in the initiative
- 15th September 2006: Presentation of the assessment and recommendation of actions to site managers and tourist institution representatives
- November 2006: Validation of a draft multiannual action plan (7 years) by the participants in the initiative, and suggestion to integrate this in the heritage promotion platform of the Plan Loire 2007 – 2013.
- September 2006 – September 2007: Meetings of thematic working groups with the participation of sites and tourist institutions. - September 2007: Presentation of the action plan 2007/2008
- December 2007: Exploratory mission in China (International promotion section)
- 30th January 2008: Signature of the Charter of excellence of the main sites making the multiannual action plan (2007-2013) official
- September 2009: the Cité royale in Loches joins the initiative of excellence.

Partners

The institutions:

State (Plan Loire Grandeur Nature – Regional tourism offices)
Centre Region
Pays de la Loire Region
Val de Loire Mission
Centre Regional Tourist Board
Pays de la Loire regional SEM (semi-public company)
County Tourist Boards (Anjou, Touraine, Loir-et-Cher and Loiret)

Overall managers:

Promotion: Centre Tourist Board and Pays de la Loire regional SEM
Quality: Touraine Tourist Board and Val de Loire Mission
Mediation: Val de Loire Mission and Fontevraud Royal Abbey
Network: Val de Loire Mission

Funding:

This initiative of excellence is a multi-partner project receiving technical and financial assistance from various sites and public authorities (Regions, State, European Union), with a view to pooling resources (new resources and allocation of existing resources).
Expected budget over 7 years (2007-2013): over 6 million euros.