Cognac house visitors increase on an annual basis

The popularity of visits inside the great Cognac houses has been steadily increasing over the years.  Since their beginnings in the 1950’s these tours have become steadily become an increasingly important commercial part of the business, and from the early 1990’s this has been coupled with corporate and private conferences and events.

Tourism in Cognac

Recent reports show that 200,000 people visited the various houses in 2010, although Michel Goubard, director of the Cognac Tourist Office says that this figure is closer to 300,000.  All the large houses, including Remy Martin, Courvoisier and Hennessy offer tours, and Cognac Meukow is planning to launch one in 2011.

In keeping with the ever upward trend, the houses are investing a huge amount of effort and money to attract even more visitors.  Remy Martin has announced an annual figure of 15,000 visitors and an increased turnover of 10%.  These visits include areas to where the public are not normally allowed access and take in The Merpins Estate, La Maison Cognac and Maison Remy-Martin.

The popularity of the visits is increasingly being geared towards the high end visitor, and meetings and conferences at Masion Remy-Martin are up 30%.  Pascale Rosseau, Remy Martin’s Head of Communications says that for the first time this year, they are approaching their aim of 50% of clientele being from outside of France.

Sources: www.sudouest.fr, www.winetour-france.com