Vendée Bocage is the name given to the territory located in the north-east of the Vendée department. The 6 communities of municipalities around Puy du Fou® pool financial resources in order to communicate under a common banner and coordinate tourist action in the region
The Mixed Union of Pays du Bocage Vendéen is formed by representatives of the 6 Communities of Communes: Pays de Chantonnay, Pays des Herbiers, Pays de Mortagne, Pays de Pouzauges, Pays de Saint Fulgent-Les Essarts and Terres de Montaigu. This Union manages 3 areas: the SCOT (Territorial coherence scheme), European funds Leader and the Tourist Pole on the scale of the Vendée countryside.
The Vendée Bocage tourist center
History of the tourist center
The Bocage Vendéen Tourist Center was created in 1996 with the main mission of promote all the tourist attractions around Puy du Fou®. It took the form of a Mixed Union in 2012 and intervenes in the 6 Communities of Communes, 58 communes, more than 184 inhabitants, in an area located in the north east of Vendée, around the tourist destination Puy du Fou® .
The Country intervenes in 3 areas:
The missions of the tourist center
The objective of the Pole is to develop and organize tourism around Puy du Fou ®. Its main missions relate to the promotion and communication of the destination, the promotion of the tourist offer by the sectors, the training of Tourist Offices and service providers and thetourist observation.
6 Tourist offices spread across the Pays du Bocage Vendéen, welcome visitors. The Tourism Center ensures the coordination of all tourism partners.
2013-2014: The positioning study by Protourisme
The results of the study showed the need to improve communication through a common destination brand, but also governance and collaborative work. Work on quality in both products and services.
2015: The birth of a common name
The Tourist Center collaborated with the “Signe des Temps” agency to develop the name. It is based on
- the authenticity of traditions, gastronomy and even the history of Puy de Fou
- dynamism by making the Bocage a tourist, economic and cultural center
- the transmission of historical heritage in different ways and means
Furthermore, the values share an entrepreneurial and independent state of mind, solidarity through volunteering, but also creativity and simplicity and respect.
2021: A new supply strategy in the making
The new mandate brings new needs to the surface and in particular the need to make visible a little-known, secret offer, next to Puy du Fou®. The health context and the consequences of the pandemic on tourist activity are also an opportunity to rethink the overall strategy by placing accommodation and its offers at the heart of the products, and by promoting natural and heritage assets. Undeniably the Puy du Fou remains the locomotive, to which many wagons will come to cling!
The Missions of the Pole and the Tourist Offices
Le tourist center leads and coordinates the tourism players in the Vendée bocage of the 6 communities of communes, by sector: Tourist offices, tourist sites and accommodation providers or by type of action, events at the scale of the bocage. He support for professionalization professional networks and the promotion of the offer by common communication tools : web and print. It ensures the marketing of the complementary offer at Puy du fou®, through packages, in order to position itself as a business provider for tourism operators.
The Tourist offices welcome, inform visitors, enliven the area through the organization of summer activities… They coordinate service providers across their community, welcome project leaders, and promote their area through brochures 'welcome…
Thus, Tourist Offices, sites, service providers participate in the creation of different tools and supports that meet THEIR needs. The division coordinates all designs with common budgets allocated to each production.
The issue is: to increase overnight stays on the territory,extend the season as well as promote the offer of the territory.
The tourism strategy of the Vendée Bocage cluster
The tourism strategy was carried out in consultation with tourism stakeholders and validated in 2014. It is part of regional and departmental tourism strategies. It sets the guidelines in order to respond to the territorial issues :
- Increase overnight stays, encourage visitors to stay one more day and one more night by offering a qualified complementary offer
- Capturing customers out of season
- Make the offer around Puy du Fou® known
In order to obtain results and evaluate its action, the tourism center has put in place concrete actions and tools, which aim to achieve the set objectives. These objectives are presented in the form of action sheets which are brought together in a single document. These sheets are produced and validated with all Tourist Offices, presented to elected officials and quantified. They define the roadmap for one or more years.
- Establishing a destination brand
- Train visiting sites to the new challenges of welcoming families
- Initiate a reflection on the quality of reception and the evolution of the information center
- Train tourism professionals in digital technology: social networks, customer relations, digital tools, etc.
- Carry out an inventory of the tourist offer in the region
- Analyze the quality of the tourist offer
- Create communication materials
- Networking tourism professionals
- Ensure a link via Tourist Offices between actions and the field
- Evaluate our actions
These actions are evaluated each year in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and to provide, if necessary, adjustment measures.
The tourist center team
A team of 3 people leads and coordinates professional networks and joint actions.