The Cognac vineyard area : territorial quality as a focus for tourism development within the context of a globally consumed product

Résumé En

Cognac is an alcoholic eau de vie produced in the grape-growing area of the same name located in southwest of France just north of the Bordeaux wineproducting region. The Cognac region extends from the Atlantic ocean to the banks of the River Charente, where the town of Cognac is situated. The particularity of this wineyard area is that 97.7% of production in terms of volum is sold for export to 160 countries, with 179 million bottles sold in 2016. [...] However, despite the worldwide dissemination of the product, the name of the town, and its vineyards, local tourist activity is statistically lower than the sale of bottles, since the average lengh of stay in the town of Cognac is only a day and a half. However, the major coganc houses have developed activities based around their production facilities, including blending, ageing, and visitor tours. Our research question therefore examines which territorial qualities are highlighted in the organised by the cognac houses for the purposes of tourism development. [...]