Auvergnepresentation

B2N ProjectSteering Committee

26th & 27th January 2010Warsaw

The Auvergne Region

A volcanic land…

© Comité Régional de Développement Touristique d'Auvergne Joël DAMASE

…rich in heritage…© Comité Régional de Développement Touristique d'Auvergne Gérard CAVAILLES

…with ancestral agricultural know-how…

© Comité Régional de Développement Touristique d'Auvergne Gérard CAVAILLES

…and one of the most famous French culinary tradition.

© Comité Régional de Développement Touristique d'Auvergne Patrick ANDRE

A strategic locationLocated in the heart of the Massif Central, today it is at the crossroads of several motorways:

• Major roads North/South   A71 - A75 : Paris/Clermont-Ferrand/Béziers to Spain or Italy (3 hours from Paris) RN7 : Paris/Lyon

• Major roads West/East  A72 : Clermont-Ferrand to Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Northern Europe (2 hours from Lyon) A89 : Bordeaux/Clermont-Ferrand

• Central Europe Atlantic route Atlantic Ocean/Central Europe RN88 : Toulouse/Lyon

Auvergne Identity Card

A dynamic, diversified economyGlobal leaders:• Michelin,• Trelleborg Industrie, • Dunlop, • Volvic,• Limagrain, • Alcan, • Valeo, • Safran, • Siemens, • Danone,• LIDV groupe L’Oréal, • Louis Vuitton, Hermès, • Laboratoires Merck Sharp & Dohme Chibret, • and a strong network of SME/SMI

• Successful business sectors:

Agri-business

Aeronautics

Nutrition/Health

Materials

Wood/ Cardboard/ paper

• Attractive region:

100 foreign companies established in the Auvergne

6,500 persons working in public and private research

Accredited training

• Clermont-Ferrand Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie (ENSCCF, chemistry training college )

• Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, business college (Clermont-Ferrand ESC Group)• Institut Français de Mécanique Avancée (IFMA, French institute of advanced

mechanical engineering)• Institut Supérieur d’Informatique de Modélisation et de leurs Applications

(ISIMA, Higher institute for IT, modelling and their applications)

Specialist schools:

Centre d’enseignement des langues étrangère (CAVILAM, Foreign languages learning centre)

Ecole Supérieure d’Emballage et de Packaging (ESEPAC, packaging graduate school )

Centre d’Etudes internationales en économie (CERDI, international economy studies centre), an international school which takes children from more than 30 different nationalities

Attractive living surroundingsWith is sprinkling of lakes and forests, Auvergne offers its visitors :• the largest group of volcanoes in Europe, • Vulcania, the unique European Volcano Park, • two Regional Nature Parks (Auvergne Volcanoes and Livradois-Forez) • more than 500 Romanesque churches, • nearly 50 castles to visit along Historic Road of the Auvergne Châteaux • and 10 spa towns which preserve the charms of the “Belle Époque”

The wealth and variety of the landscapes are perfect for many sport and leisure activities:

• hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, hang gliding, canoeing-kayaking,• swimming, cross-country and downhill skiing or snow shoeing in winter.

Auvergne also means :delicious food and a fun, festive atmosphere

in the friendly spirit of hospitality that is so typical of the Auvergnat people.

General statistics

• 1,3 million inhabitants

• 26 000 km2

• Main City: Clermont-Ferrand (137 140 inhabitants)

Tourist statistics

• More than 600 000 tourist beds (181 000 commercial beds)

• More than 17 billions tourist nights per year (11,3 billions commercial nights)

• 85 % of Auvergne tourists are French. Only 15 % come from foreign countries

Auvergne regional public organizations

Regional Council of Auvergne

Regional public authority, with various missions:

• The building and renovation of high schools as well as their maintenance, operation and equipment; 

• Vocational training and apprenticeships.

• Other missions relative to a wide-ranging regional planning and development action, through which the region intervenes in a number of sectors or projects by means of State contracts or partnerships with other local government levels.

Regional Council of Auvergne

In this respect, Auvergne supports:• Economic development (industry, trade, crafts,

agriculture, tourism) through business grants co-funding of transport-related projects (roads, airports, and railway’s) ;

• Cultural affairs and sports; • Regional and local development • Higher education and research • Environment and quality of life

Regional Committee for Tourism Development

• Body governed by public law, non profit organization• 40 employees• Budget: about 5 millions euros per year• Mostly funded by the Regional Council• 4 departments:

– Administration and services (call centre…)– Tourist promotion and marketing– Training– Engineering and development

Projects

• Futourism Interreg IIIC project (2006-2008): 5 mini-projects dedicated to tourist development policies

• ICER Interreg IVC project as Lead Partner: public policies dedicated to the eco-investors attraction in rural area in the tourist accommodation sector

• Cooperation with Minas Gerais Region in Brazil: transfer of experience in the eco-accommodation sector

Project team

• Thomas DUCLOUTRIER, Project Manager, Head of Territorial Cooperation

• Vincent RABY, Policy Officer, in charge of the sustainable tourism policies and the regional Agenda 21 process

• Jean-François JOBERT, Tourist Development Director, specialist of tourism in natural areas (previously in the French

National Tourist Development Agency)

Contact details:thomas.ducloutrier@crdt-auvergne.fr

Phone number: +33 473 294 940Fax number: +33 473 341 111