Marc Lévy, General Manager of Alsace Destination Tourisme

Marc Lévy has supported the Bleu Minuit project from the outset and has provided expertise and advice.

What is the mission of Alsace Destination Tourisme?

We are a consulting and expertise agency for for development and promotion of tourism, operating for the two departments Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin. Alsace is the gateway to discover other territories, notably the Vosges mountains. We are also active in the area of certification and qualification of tourist-focused products and services, particularly for bicycles rental, access for handicapped people, the flowering of villages, etc.

Why were you interested in the Bleu Minuit project?

Hélène Trautmann, the project’s initiator, came to see us to give us an outline of the project. We discussed the possibilities of partnership and financing, as well as the different orientations in line with the atmosphere we wish to promote for our tourism offer, following the establishment in 2017 of our development and innovation strategy.
Alsace is a touristically qualitative but rather traditional territory. This is why we wish to support and accompany the bearers of innovative projects that will allow us to diversify and differentiate our offer. This is not necessarily what will make visitors come, but it is what will make them stay and come back. They come for an image of Alsace that they have in mind, an image of Epinal in a way, but our strength is also to show them something else, to surprise them.
This is what seduced us in the Bleu Minuit project.

How did you orient the initial project?

We found it interesting to look at territories that are a little less travelled, where the offer is less important, to get out of the Strasbourg-Colmar axis. We therefore proposed to look in Northern Alsace. And given the eco-responsible orientation of the project, present from the outset, we thought of the Vosges du Nord natural park, which is very involved in this area. It made sense. We are now going to publicise this wonderful project, notably via a press kit which will be presented to journalists at the Deptour forum, organised by the Tourism and Territories federation, on January 13th and 14th at the Salons de l’Aveyron.