Interface Tourism : Strasbourg,MAKE STAKEHOLDERS THINK AND WORK TOGETHER

In 2003, Strasbourg town wished to think about its tourism development.
The objective was to gather all the local and tourism players in order to make a common diagnosis of the area and therefore to think about the strategic targets of development.
A participative approach for the management of this project has been favoured.

Following this approach, a report made in Strasbourg and more generally in all the big cities emphasized a change of the behaviours of the tourists in terms of number and length of their journeys, of their choice of information and booking’s channels as well as of the destinations.

Engaging a strategical research seemed appropriate to the city to understand these changings and to imagine the choices, the investments and the measures in order to conquer market shares and loyal the customers..

Interface Tourism was selected to advise Strasbourg town for its positioning and tourism development.

This research was declined in 3 steps :

Quarter of European Institutions

Phase 1 :

Diagnosis (Winter 2003) :

Analysis of the image, tourism offer, accomodations and also of the welcoming and accessibility’s ways. This diagnosis brought to the fore the successes but also the weaknesses of the town. Some reports made by the inhabitants of Strasbourg were backed up while others were refuted.

Workshops during Tourism Conferences

Phase 2 :

Organization of Tourism Conferences (June 2004) :

Strasbourg town organized this meeting in order that all the local and tourism players could participate to the project. Thus 300 players participated to this event and have discussed on 6 topics regarding the diagnosis:

Strasbourg and Europe :
an identity to communicate
Events, animations, products :
a triptyque to conquer tourists
Strasbourg, convention center :
clients to recapture
Working together :
organization and coordination of tourism
policy in Strasbourg
Clarity’s town :
access, transportation, welcoming,…
New markets, new products and new
promotion’s tools

These Tourism Conferences gave the the inhabitants of Strasbourg the opportunity to work in partnership with the local authorities and to define actions in the short, medium and long terms to solve identified problems.

To be constructive the discussion were managed by experts and enriched with similar experiences from other towns. Interface Tourism was in charge of the selection of all the experts.

Moreover, Interface Tourism took in charge the production of all the documents distributed during the workshops and conferences.

Regarding the organization, the Tourism Conferences took place in the Strasbourg’s Conference Center with plenary meetings and workshops.

The French Minister of Tourism, M. Léon Bertrand, made the closing speech.

Christmas market

Phase 3 :

Animation by Interface Tourism of 3 workshops (from September 2004 to June 2005) :

Aiming at the implementation of actions proposed during the Tourism Conferences. 60 local players met 3 times and defined 55 concrete actions to realize in the next years. Among the most symbolic actions, we can mention: communication plan for the arrival of TGV Est (autumn 2007), creation of Convention Bureau, welcoming plan for tourism coaches, conception of a corporate identity based on the European positioning of Strasbourg

Today many actions have been financed and implemented, such as the welcoming plan for tourism coaches, while other files are in progress and are expected to be realised at the end of the year (2006), like for example the creation of the Convention Bureau.