River tourism and wine tourism, the under-exploited alliance of sustainable tourism

What if the future of sustainable tourism were played out at the confluence of these two meaningful worlds? One offers a gentle, slow, and contemplative journey; the other promotes expertise, landscapes, and the art of living. Together, they form a naturally complementary duo, already present in some places, but whose potential remains largely underexploited nationally.

@Perraud voyages

From rivers to canals, France has a network of waterways that is unique in Europe, managed by VNF - Voies navigables de France . This network crosses major wine-growing regions: Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Languedoc, Southwest... While collaborations already exist, they deserve to be strengthened, structured and promoted to meet new tourism aspirations: slowness, nature, immersive and cultural experiences.

The connection between wine and water is deeply rooted in history. For centuries, barrels were transported on rivers, wineries were established near river ports, and many wine-growing villages grew up along the waterfront. This tangible and intangible heritage constitutes a powerful resource for offering new forms of mediation and itinerancy: visits following the traces of ancient wine trails, tastings at the edge of locks, shared signage, and collaborations between boatmen, winegrowers, and local guides.

An opportunity to be seized by operators and territories

Some stakeholders have already understood the full potential of this convergence between river navigation and the discovery of vineyards, but these initiatives remain too fragmented or insufficiently coordinated on a national scale.

Among the pioneers of the genre, Belmond has been offering luxury river cruises aboard barges like Fleur de Lys or Napoléon for several years now , notably in Burgundy, Provence and Champagne. These all-inclusive stays combine navigation, gastronomy and high-level wine experiences: tastings in exceptional estates, meetings with winemakers, and exploration of the local wine heritage. In 2023, Belmond enriched its offer with the Coquelicot barge on the Marne, confirming its desire to connect the great French appellations through elegant river itineraries.

Another emblematic example is Le Boat , one of the European leaders in license-free navigation, offering itineraries on the Canal du Midi, the Burgundy Canal, in Alsace, and even in the Lot region. The company increasingly encourages its clients to organize stopovers in wine villages, in partnership with wineries, wine houses, or tourist offices, creating a form of itinerant, autonomous, and accessible wine tourism.

In the Southwest, Les Croisières du Lot in Castelmoron-sur-Lot, and Les Croisières du Prince Henry , in Nérac on the Baïse, include tastings of local products, food and wine pairings, and sometimes stopovers at producers' homes. These cruises reveal the terroirs in a friendly manner, and often in direct connection with producers' markets or wine events.

Finally, CroisiEurope , a long-standing player in the river sector, has developed several wine-themed cruises on the Rhine, the Rhône, the Garonne and the Danube, often accompanied by sommeliers or specialist lecturers.

These experiences, although real and often remarkable, still remain on the margins of a global positioning around the synergy between river tourism and wine tourism. There exists here a strong opportunity for the territories, interprofessional organizations, tourist offices and private operators: to federate, structure and make readable a complete, sustainable and differentiating tourist offer; by creating the future wine routes... along the water.

Towards an integrated wine tourism river offer

More than an institutional program, it is a collective dynamic that must be encouraged: that of private operators, wine destinations, tourism development agencies, interprofessional organizations, and investors eager to innovate together. By connecting river stopovers to wine routes, by jointly labeling the stops, by creating packages or events along the water, a new offering could emerge, one that is coherent, sustainable, and carries the image of the regions concerned.

A lever for differentiation in a changing tourism economy

In a context of climate transition and rapidly changing customer expectations, the alliance between rivers and vineyards constitutes a powerful lever: soft mobility, promotion of terroirs, four-season tourism, upgrading of the customer experience, decongestion of overcrowded sites. For wine destinations, this is an avenue to fully explore to strengthen their attractiveness, diversify their offerings and place their development in a resolutely sustainable approach.

It is also a field of innovation to be invested in by public and private actors.

At CALICE Hospitality and Wines , we support destinations, interprofessional organizations, and wine operators in structuring ambitious, sustainable wine tourism offerings rooted in their territory. While river itineraries are still absent from our portfolio of references, we are convinced of their potential and ready to contribute to the emergence of new synergies between waterways and vineyards.

👉 To go further or imagine innovative devices together, find us on calicehospitality.com

CIVP - Wines of Provence Languedoc Interprofessional Wine Council Corsican Wines - CIVC "Bordeaux Wine Trip, Irresistible Vineyard" Community Bordeaux Wines - CIVB Burgundy Wine Board Union of Champagne Houses Independent Winegrowers of France VNF Tourism along the water InterLoire | Loire Wines Nathalie Delattre Hervé Novelli Martin LHUILLIER Laurent Hénart Cécile AVEZARD Christian Boyens Stephan Ramoin