Labels and Quality
The Family Plus label
Family Plus is a national label, created as a result of a collaboration between three French town tourist associations:
- The National Association of Elected Representatives of Tourist Areas;
- The National Association of Mayors of Ski Resorts – Ski France;
- The French Federation of Summer and Snow Mountain Resorts.
With the support of the French central government tourist services, the aim of the label is to draw attention to those communities that have signed up to the label and adopted an overall approach designed to welcome family visitors via a mark that demonstrates the quality and professionalism of the hospitality offered to families, both children and adults.
The Family Plus label has been awarded to 107 resorts, including:
- 32 coastal resorts;
- 42 mountain destinations;
- 21 destinations for nature tourism;
- 10 city destinations.
The Family Plus label is awarded for a three-year period to those communities that implement a policy that truly welcomes families and children.
Family holidays are such a special time for both parents and children at like: a period of discovery and sharing, where family members learn how to live together or separately.
The Family Plus label – and the communities that have earned it – undertake to families and children to do provide everything that is needed to give them a warm welcome and a successful holiday!
There are six commitments given in relation to the way that children and adults are welcomed to their destination:
- A personalised welcome for families on arrival;
- Events that are suitable for all ages;
- From the smallest to the largest, rates to suit all sizes and all pockets;
- Activities for children and adults that they can experience separately or together;
- All shops and services within easy reach;
- Professional services who go the extra mile for children.
Professionals in the accommodation, activity, and restaurant sectors undertake, alongside the communities who earn the label, to provide families with a special welcome.
In La Tranche sur Mer, 39 professionals have signed up to the scheme, and choosing one of the Family Plus-recommended professionals guarantees that your children will be well looked after and will enjoy special services and rates.
“Family Plus, the destination for kids and grown-ups” is the label that families can rely on for a successful stay!
THE “CYCLE FRIENDLY” LABEL
“Cycle Friendly” is a national scheme that aims to highlight providers of leisure and tourism activities that meet cycling tourists needs and that are located close to a safe cycle route.
Ownership of the label, which was originally created by France’s Centre region and its Regional Tourism Committee, is now shared between the Centre – Loire Valle Regional Tourism Committee and the France Vélo Tourisme association.
The label allows tourists, nomads, day trippers and locals to identify tourism professionals who offer a warm welcome and a range of services adapted to the needs of their customers on two wheels.
A Cycle Friendly establishment provides the following guarantees to biking tourists:
- that it is less than 5km from a major cycle route;
- that it has suitable hardware and equipment;
- that it will warmly welcome its visitors on bikes with special attention;
- that it offers services adapted to cyclists’ needs.
In addition to the local Tourist Office, 14 commercial providers of services and accommodation in La Tranche Sur Mer have so far earned this certification.
Classification in Category I and Tourism Quality Brand
The Tourist Office puts at the heart of its concerns the welcome of its visitors and the satisfaction of the destination's customers. This is why it has been committed for many years to quality services and professionalism.
After obtaining the Tourism Quality Mark, the Tourist Office of La Tranche sur Mer was awarded since 2013, by prefectoral decree and for a period of 5 years, the Classification in Category I.
This is a category of excellence in the scale of the French Tourist Offices ranking. Category I is awarded to entrepreneurial-type structures with a reinforced team and with a vocation to federate its professionals and to develop the tourist economy of its geographical area of intervention.
La Tranche sur Mer receives an important natural tourist flow of national and international origin. The team of the tourist office, polyglot, is led by a director and is composed of specialized collaborators.
It implements a targeted promotion/communication policy and develops new information technologies, in order to best respond to an increasingly seasoned clientele.
The tourist office also has tools to listen to customers in order to constantly improve the quality of the services provided and those of its partners. This classification in Category I reaffirms its federating role with local and professional actors around a common tourism development project.
The Petourisme club
The friendly and original yet timeless concept of Petourism was first put forward by the Tourist Office in Troyes back in July 2007, while the Tourist Office of La Tranche Sur Mer joined the Petourism Club in January 2016.
The concept is aimed at pet owners, particularly dog lovers. Tourists and their four-legged friends are therefore guaranteed not only to receive a warm welcome on the premises of the Tourist Office itself, but also to be provided with information about all the holiday options that the town has to offer.
This concept also provides an opportunity to raise awareness of an opportunity for tourists and local residents to live together in harmony, particularly in terms of ensuring a clean urban environment.
What does that mean for the Tourist Office?
- A special welcome for our four-legged friends, with a water bowl on hand;
- A welcome pack will be given to visitors, featuring our “Petourism” leaflet;
The guide contains ideas for activities, accommodations, and restaurants, as well as practical hints and tips.
The European Blue Flag Award
The Blue Flag is a label with a great deal of significance for the tourist industry, signifying exemplary environmental standards – and one that has graced the beaches of La Tranche sur Mer since its inception in 1985.
Created by the French office of the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe in 1985, the Blue Flag is awarded yearly to those coastal resorts that follow an ongoing policy of sustainable tourism and development.
With a presence that now covers 48 countries and every single continent, the Blue Flag has become an acknowledged standard in the fields of tourism, environmentalism and sustainable development.
Visiting a Blue Flag beach means choosing a site that is equipped to minimise the impact of its tourist visitors. Recycling bins are available to capture the value of waste, and the presence of toilet facilities helps to ensure the water quality. Safe, accessible bathing facilities are also taken into account, as is the standard of information on water quality and local flora and fauna. Communities that earn the label organise activities throughout the year, but especially in the summer season, to raise awareness of all kinds of environmental issues.
Addressing water quality issues for bathers
The “Water Quality for Bathers” initiative ensures high quality standards for bathing water, day in, day out, both at the surface and in the depths.
La Tranche sur Mer was the first community in the Vendée to obtain the standard, which it achieved in 2015.
The purpose of the scheme is to draw attention to, and to encourage the rapid implementation of a bathing water quality management system and to ensure that the obligations imposed by the new European Directive are achieved.
This represents a set of criteria that are more rigorous than the current Blue Flag.
- Ongoing water quality monitoring throughout the bathing season, with regular samples being taken;
- A commitment to notify the public of any problems;
- Identification of all potential pollution sources with an early-warning system in place through regular measurements.
Welcome, c'est beau ici !
A warm welcome wherever you are in Pays de la Loire: It’s lovely here!
Pays de la Loire offers a special welcome to English-speaking tourists. Wherever you see the "C'est Beau Ici" sign, pop in and say "bonjour" to the team in the local tourist office or at the hotel reception desk.
You’ll find friendly faces, waiting to share their passion for the area and to give you all the advice you need to make your holiday a real success. They will speak to you in English, give you information in English and even help you with problems that are not necessarily related to tourism like your health, your car and communicating in French!
Just look for this logo and you’re sure to receive the warmest welcome!
Zéro Phyto
Since 1 January 2017, local authorities must enter into a Zero Phyto policy, i.e. they must no longer use plant protection products on green spaces. The Municipality of La Tranche sur Mer did not wait for this deadline, as it has been part of a zero-plant policy since 2009.
Villes et Villages Fleuris
In 2016, La Tranche-sur-Mer won its 3rd flower in the national competition of flowered towns and villages.
Territoire Vélo
La Tranche sur Mer: 1st commune in the Vendée to receive the Territoire Vélo label in September 2019
The bicycle is a means of transportation that is fully in line with the eco-tourism policy of soft transportation developed by the Municipality. It is an indispensable alternative to the city to make the many visitors (120,000 in the summer) cohabit by encouraging them to forget their car during the holidays.
In order to give meaning to this commitment, the town submitted its application for the Territoire Vélo label to the French Cyclotourism Federation at the beginning of April 2019. Accompanied by the Vendée Departmental Committee and the Amicale Cyclotouriste Tranchaise, a technical visit was made to the area on Tuesday 3 September 2019 in order to observe the actions in favour of cycling. Territoire Vélo is a label intended for local authorities, communes or inter-communalities that certifies the commitment of the commune to promote cycling.
The label validates all actions that are directly or indirectly related to cycling: - Facilities: cycle paths, signposting, etc. - Equipment: bike parking, bike pumps, washing facilities, etc. - Service providers: bike hire and repair companies, specialist bike accommodation providers, etc. - Tourism and entertainment (in conjunction with local clubs): bike tours, bike festivals, etc. - Loops: bike tours through the resort - Education and road safety: training, awareness among young people, ...
La Tranche-sur-Mer is on the "Chemin de la Vélodyssée" with its 104,000 passages counted by the municipal terminal and has more than 30 km of cycle paths. These are characteristics that reinforce the municipality in its promotion of cycling.
Vogue & Vague Destination La Tranche sur Mer
Discover the Vogue & Vague water sports activities, at La Tranche sur Mer destination
Nautical activities, accessible to beginners, to have fun on the water with your family. With children or teenagers, Vogue & Vague guarantees a personalised welcome, safe water sports and a range of services.
