Pia Roessler at OT Beaune:

Selling Beaune
to the world

So you enjoy going to Burgundy? Then this might be you. You are between 35 and 50 years old. There is a 50-50 chance that you are not from France. If you are not from Europe it is very likely that you are either from the US or Japan. And you will be staying in the area for six days.

– The total number of visitors to Beaune is about one million and a half every year, says Pia Roessler at the Beaune Tourist Office.

She explains that according to the statistics of the tourist office about 750 000 visitors are French, while the rest mainly come from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, the US and Japan. The tourist season in Beaune and Burgundy stretches from Easter to the third weekend of November, when the big wine auction is held in Beaune. The peak is during July and August.

– In the spring and in the fall we mainly have tourists that are looking for wine or gastronomic experiences, says Pia Roessler. In July and August we have every kind of tourist coming to Beaune. For the rest of the year, end of November until end of March, it's mainly business tourism and people coming to the area only for the day, not staying the night.

With only 21 800 inhabitants (2005 figures) 1,5 million tourists a year is quite a lot. The average length of people's stays in Burgundy is six days and one can see two different ways of organizing the stays.

– Either they are traveling from town to town, staying only one night in each place and visiting what there is to visit, or they come to for example Beaune and their whole five or six days here, using Beaune as a departure point and travel around each day.

When people come to the Beaune Tourist Office there are mainly two things they are looking for. Either they are looking for information on accommodation and restaurants, doing some last minute organization of their stay, or they are looking for wine tastings or ways of discovering the vineyards.

The total number of nights stayed in Burgundy is decreasing. But in recent years there has been a change for the chambres d'hôtes, the B&B's.

– The B&B's have changed and improved very much over the last years, says Pia Roessler. People are very interested in this kind of accommodation and probably stay longer. But especially in Beaune there are only hotel rooms available and people don't use hotel rooms for holidays. It's only for one or two nights, or at best three nights.

Today most chambres d'hôtes have their own websites and because of that they have become more accessable for people coming to the area. A chambre d'hôtes is also smaller than a hotel and usually offer a more personal welcome.

– In the Beaune area for example they are often run by winegrowers, says Pia Roessler. This is very good, because people want to meet those who are working in the wine industry.

Burgundy also has the advantage of having a central place in Europe. The motorway that runs from the north to the south of France is just outside Beaune, meaning that many make stopovers here and get to know the area.

Burgundy also has the advantage of having a central place in Europe. The motorway that runs from the north to the south of France is just outside Beaune, meaning that many make stopovers here and get to know the area.

– What is also very important for the region is that we have a natural heritage, for example the Morvan region. We have a lot of rivers, vineyards and woods. All this combined with a high quality level of gastronomy and wine. Many tourists coming to Beaune are very interested in wine. They are looking for a personal contact with winegrowers and people working in the wine industry. In Burgundy you can find this contact. In Bordeaux for example you can't.

– When I first came to Burgundy I really enjoyed this welcome, Pia Roessler says. I'm not originally from Burgundy, not even from France. I'm from Germany. Everybody love to tell you about what they are doing and want you to enjoy it as well, share the experience.

In Burgundy more or less everything involves wine. You have thousands of winegrowers and the wine tend to influence most aspects of life. In other words, if you come to Burgundy and for some reason have the intention of avoiding wine you have to be good, really good.

– If you come to Burgundy and don't do a winetasting, don't visit the vineyards or meet a winegrower it is like going to the south of France without seeing the beach, Pia Roessler smiles.

If you decide to stay longer or come back several times to Burgundy Pia Roessler has a few tips on what you can do when you have more time.

– I would recommend you to take wine lessons at Sensation Vin. It's a new provider of winetastings for individuals. They are open every day and you can go there and say that you want to learn more about Burgundian wines for half an hour, one hour, two hours or three hours. It's in French or English and you can choose level. In the cellar they even have different soils, so they for example can show you why there is such a difference between a white wine from Beaune and a white wine from northern Burgundy.

– Then you have the possibility to make "backstage" visits at winegrowers that are only available by appointment. And especially in the summer you can do a gourmet tour, where you go around Beaune tasting local specialties. This takes two to two and a half hours and go to different shops tasting the local food.

© 2007 Ola Bergman

Related reading at Bergman's Bourgogne:
• Read more about Beaune
• Read more about accomodation in Burgundy
• Interviews with winemakers