The arrival of Villeneuve in the club of the most beautiful villages in France gives a new dimension to the department in terms of tourist attractiveness.
It is obviously at the newcomer's house that the elected officials of the very exclusive club of the most beautiful villages in France in Aveyron met. In this village of Villeneuve d'Aveyron, therefore, which brings to eleven the number of “most beautiful villages” in the department and, in doing so, positions Aveyron ahead of the 70 French departments which have them. “Just in front of the Dordogne, which has ten”, specifies Jean-Luc Calmelly who, as president of Adatt (Departmental Agency for Attractiveness and Tourism) participated in this “first” meeting of the club of eleven .
Because there is obviously an urgent need to capitalize on this good news for tourism in Aveyron. “The first urgency was to publish a new leaflet, therefore including Villeneuve, to update the sites and publications of the digital network,” explains Jean-Luc Calmelly. “A new exhibition has also been built, visible at the Millau Viaduct area. We found the ideal site to present the eleven most beautiful villages in France in the department.”
Likewise, these most beautiful villages wish to highlight the quality of “living heritage!” “In Villeneuve for example, look, there is the Maison de la Photo, superb business shops, this is also to be highlighted ” underlines the vice-president of Dapértement, who intends for this club to provide “advice” for the councilors of Aveyron villages who would consider initiating a process aimed at obtaining the label.
“The Dordogne does not want to leave us ahead…”
It being understood that Jean-Luc Calmelly would welcome one or two villages applying. Because like a Tour de France cyclist who escapes, he looks behind him… “We know that the Dordogne does not want to leave us in front” smiles the Bozoulais elected official. “Afterwards, there are villages which do not wish to engage in it and we also hear it.”
In the meantime, with these eleven most beautiful villages and this position as the department which has the most, it is another asset in the game of attractiveness. “It is difficult to measure the impact of such a label, but it is certain that it brings other villages in the department in its wake,” comments Jean-Luc Calmelly. “We would also like to propose a hiking route to connect each of its villages but it is complicated. Because it is not easy to find enough accommodation between each stage. The department is large.”
During this meeting in Villeneuve d'Aveyron, the representation of Aveyron within the national association, which will hold its general assembly in Lyons-la-Forêt, in Eure, was also discussed. Where there is no doubt that Aveyron will make a remarkable appearance..
A little more than twenty years after the award of the label to the village of Peyre (2003), Aveyron sees this as an additional argument to deploy in its tourism communication campaign. A little over a month ago, it was the 1 p.m. cameras from France 2 who came to discover the beauties of the medieval village… we can bet that they have not finished coming to film the department with the most beautiful villages in France .
