France/Clusters: Béarn and Aragon cooperate to develop local tourism

The Cluster Tourisme Béarn and TSAC (Cluster Turismo Sostenible de Aragón) have signed a partnership agreement to develop joint tourism strategies.

"We've got a real job on our hands," exclaims Jean Othax, citing examples of efforts to be made by Béarn's tourism players to welcome foreign tourists, particularly the large number of Spaniards crossing the border.

"We've created a toolbox for the training and development of tourism professionals, to make Béarn an attractive place to visit."continues the co-president (with Laurent Poublan) of the Cluster Tourisme Béarn, "an offshoot of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry".

70 companies grouped together

This association, which brings together 70 companies, "is not here to replace the tourist offices or the ADT (Agence départementale du tourisme, NDLR)", he assures us.Rather, he sees its role as that of a "link between all the tourism bodies in Béarn", a region with little-known tourist potential.

"The Artouste train is our Eiffel Tower, but who knows about the Verna cave or the Château des énigmes de Laàs?" he asks, to gauge the extent to which local tourism needs to be promoted.

Common interests

The Béarn cluster's territorial marketing has not gone unnoticed in Aragón, where the TSAC (Cluster Turismo Sostenible de Aragón) has also seen common interests and the need to promote local tourism.The TSAC (Cluster Turismo Sostenible de Aragón) also saw common interests and numerous possible links with its Béarn counterpart, leading to the signing of a partnership agreement.

On Wednesday May 21, Jean Othax and Hélène Porte-Laborde, a Lucquoise entrepreneur deeply involved in cross-border relations, initialed the agreement with Juan Ignaco, President of TSAC, and Enrique Pueyo, Mayor of the Aragonese municipality of Aínsa, where the meeting took place.

"In particular, we're going to work on eco-responsible tourism, but also share our resources to bring in Canadians, Americans and others and offer them joint tours", says the co-chairman of the Béarn cluster, among other examples of cooperation.

He is also knocking on the door of the European Community for subsidies under the European Cross-Border Cooperation Program (Poctefa), for which the Béarn cluster "ticks all the boxes".

Source: www.sudouest.fr/