As part of the three-year “Keys in Hand” international cooperation project, the cities of Mexico City, Puebla and Guanajuato welcomed a week-long French delegation comprising Djoudé MERABET, Mayor of Elbeuf-sur-Seine and Vice-Chairman of Sites & Cités, Richard TYLINSKI, municipal councillor, City of Draguignan, Cécile PARIS, elected representative for heritage and archives, City of Dinan, and Flore SCHEURER, urban planner, and a member of the French delegation. Cités, Richard TYLINSKI, municipal councillor for the city of Draguignan, Cécile PARIS, heritage and archives councillor for the city of Dinan, Flore SCHEURER, urban planner and territory manager for Bordeaux Métropole, Jacky CRUCHON, urban planning and heritage expert, as well as members of the Sites & Cités team, Marylise ORTIZ, director of Sites et Cités and Meisi MUÇA, in charge of Heritage and International Cooperation.

PUEBLA: February 15 and 16

The French delegation was warmly received at Puebla’s Palacio Municipal by Adán DOMÍNGUEZ SÁNCHEZ, Mayor of Puebla, María Fernanda HUERTA LÓPEZ, City Councillor for Infrastructure, Mobility and Public Services, María Isabel GARCÍA RAMOS, Municipal Manager of Puebla, and Berenice VIDAL CASTELÁN, Head of the Historic Centre and Cultural Heritage.

22 specialists and local representatives were invited to take part in the days of information and exchange on heritage, citizen participation and mobility. Visits to the historic center of Puebla provided an opportunity to learn more and see first-hand experiences.

Sites & Cités, in partnership with Bordeaux Métropole, organized a study tour for an international delegation from June 19 to 21, 2023.

The delegation was welcomed by Céline PAPIN, deputy mayor in charge of territorial, European and international cooperation, higher education and research, and Brigitte BLOCH, local councillor in charge of tourism and the wine economy for Nadia Saadi.

Our partners were also able to discuss topics related to sustainable tourism in historic centers, the rehabilitation of traditional neighborhoods and the signage of heritage sites, with the participation of :

• Anne-Laure MONIOT, Project Manager, World Heritage Mission

• Magali DA SILVA, International Cooperation Coordinator

• Sylvain SCHOONBAERT, architect and historian

• Julie BENISTY OVIEDO, Sustainable Tourism Manager, Bordeaux Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau

• Cécile GARCIA, responsible tourism project manager, Tourism Department

• Mélanie TAMMEVESKI, Editorial and Local Tourism Manager

• Chantal BECOT, Local Economy Manager

• Aude CHATENET, Urban Renewal Project Manager

• Dominique BUSNEL, project manager for facilities of metropolitan interest

The international delegation was made up of :

• Juan Sebastian HERNANDEZ, Sustainable Tourism Strategy Manager, Corpoturismo Cartagena – Colombia

• Paulina ARBOLEDA, Tourism Operations Manager, Quito Turismo – Ecuador

• Bérénice VIDAL, General Manager of the Historic Center and Cultural Heritage Directorate of Puebla – Mexico

• Andrea DIAZ, Head of the Urban Image Department at the Directorate of the Historic Center and Cultural Heritage of Puebla – Mexico

The aim of these trips is to showcase France’s international experience in tourism and heritage, encourage the exchange of best practices between countries, and promote networking between partner cities.

Sites & Cités and the city of Draguignan organized a study trip for a Colombian delegation from June 19 to 21, 2023.

The delegation was welcomed by Richard Strambio, the town’s mayor, his deputies, and the town and agglomeration departments.

Our Colombian partners, Josue Javier Castellanos, Mayor of Villa de Leyva, Janneth SANDOVAL, Secretary of Economic Development for the City of Paipa, and Liliana PEREZ, Head of the Tourism Program of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism of Sogamoso, had the opportunity to discuss with Thierry DALMAS, Director General of Services for the City of Paipa, and Celia REYNIER-AUCLAIR, Director of Tourism and Cultural Affairs for the Dracénie Provence Verdon Agglomération, the actions implemented in the region in areas such as..:

• Sustainable tourism & tourism flow management
• Heritage ambassadors
• Territorial marketing, attractiveness and reclaiming public space.

The aim of these stays is to promote French experience in tourism and heritage abroad, to exchange practices between countries and to promote networking between partner cities.

Sites & Cités and Bordeaux Marie Métropole have organized a study tour for an international delegation from June 19 to 21, 2023.

The delegation was welcomed by Céline PAPIN, Deputy Mayor in charge of territorial, European and international cooperation, higher education and research, and Brigitte Bloch, local councillor in charge of tourism and the wine economy for Nadia Saadi.

Our partners were also able to discuss topics related to sustainable tourism in historic centers, the rehabilitation of traditional neighborhoods and the signage of heritage sites with :

• Anne-Laure MONIOT, World Heritage Project Manager,
• Magali da Silva, International Cooperation Coordinator
• Sylvain SCHOONBAERT, Architect and historian
• Julie Benisty OVIEDO, Sustainable Tourism Manager, Bordeaux Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Cécile GARCIA, Responsible Tourism Project Manager, Tourism Department
• Mélanie TAMMEVESKI, Editorial and local tourism manager
• Chantal BECOT, Local economy manager,
• Aude CHATENET, Urban Renewal Project Manager
• Dominique BUSNEL, Project Manager for Facilities of Metropolitan Interest.

Here is the international delegation:

• Juan Sebastian HERNANDEZ, Sustainable Tourism Strategy Leader, Corpo turismo Cartagena – Colombia
• Paulina ARBOLEDA Tourism Operations Manager, Quito Turismo – Ecuador
• Bérénice VIDAL, General Manager of the Historic Center and Cultural Heritage of Puebla – Mexico
• Andrea DIAZ, Head of the Urban Image Department of the Directorate of the Historic Center and Cultural Heritage of Puebla – Mexico.

The aim of these stays is to promote French experience in tourism and heritage abroad, to exchange practices between countries and to promote networking between partner cities.

Sites & Cités remarquables de France organized a Mission Ecuador – Colombia.

The French delegation was made up of the Sites & Cités team, Anne-Laure MONIOT, project manager for Bordeaux Métropole, Richard TYLINSKI city councillor for Draguignan and Béatrice LEFEL and Steve JULLIEN city councillors for Elbeuf-sur-Seine.

The delegation visited Cartagena, Villa de Leyva, Paipa, Sogamoso in Colombia and Quito in Ecuador. In each of these towns, workshops on heritage and tourism were organized.

The trip encouraged meetings and exchanges between representatives of French cities and partners from project member cities in Colombia and Ecuador.

Subsequently, these links will enable us to follow the progress of the pilot projects that will be implemented with each of the project’s partner cities over the next two years.

On the programme: field visits to understand and analyse the problems of each city and workshops on the themes of the pilot projects:

• Heritage awareness
• Revitalizing historic city centers
• Digital heritage enhancement
• Promoting crafts, gastronomy and producers
• Promotional strategies for heritage destinations
• Developing inclusive and sustainable tourism.

On Tuesday March 7 and Thursday March 9, 2023, Sites & Cités organized a webinar on “Enhancing the value of old town centers” with its project partners.

At this meeting, the cities of Cuenca, Draguignan, Sogamoso, Loja, Cartagena, Bordeaux, Campeche and Dinan took the floor.

Concrete examples of projects and actions carried out were presented during this webinar. They enabled the project partners to capitalize on the different strategies implemented to meet the challenges of diversifying the tourist offer and thus reconcile the economic development of historic centers with the preservation of their heritage.

See the program

On February 07, 2023, Sites & Cités organized a meeting to present the policies implemented to manage tourism in the historic centers of the four countries.
At this meeting, we counted on the participation of one specialist per project member country:

• Karina FARFAN, Senior Lecturer – University of Cuenca and University of Azuay, Ecuador
• Valère ROUSSEAU, Coordinator of the Reinventing Heritage program – Atout France
• Luis Felipe MORALES, Colombian tourism policy specialist
• Alejandra ZORRILLA, General Manager – Identity and Development, Mexico City

Each expert presented the legal framework and national and local tourism strategies to the partner cities. An important prerequisite for this project, which will deal specifically with the tourism enhancement of our heritage.
Find all the presentation summary sheets here (pdf link to member’s area).

On Tuesday January 24 and Thursday January 26, Sites & Cités organized a webinar on “Enhancing the value of old town centers” with its project partners.

At this meeting, the cities of Elbeuf-sur-Seine in France, Quito in Ecuador, Puebla in Mexico and Paipa and Villa de Leyva took part.

Concrete examples of projects and actions carried out were presented during this webinar. They enabled the project partners to capitalize on different strategies implemented to meet the challenges of heritage enhancement, such as: rehabilitation, awareness-raising, enhancement and accessibility to heritage.

See the program

On Monday November 28, 2022, Sites & Cités organized a meeting to present the heritage policies implemented in the historic centers of the four countries.

At this meeting, we counted on the participation of one specialist per project member country:

• Rosana CALDERÓN, Deputy Director of Special Projects, World Heritage Department, INAH – Mexico
• Alex REMACHE, Specialist, Territorial Planning Department – Ministerio Turismo Ecuador – Ecuador
• Johanna URIBE, Infrastructure Advisor – Ministry of Tourism – Colombia
• Jacky CRUCHON, urban planning and heritage consultant -France

Each expert presented the legal framework and national and local heritage strategies to the partner cities. An important prerequisite for this project, which will deal specifically with heritage preservation and enhancement.

Find all the presentation summary sheets here (pdf link to member’s area)

The first study tour for a Latin American delegation took place in Dinan, from November 21 to 23, 2022.

The delegation was welcomed by Didier Lechien, Mayor of Dinan, his deputies, the Heritage, Urban Planning and Living Environment departments and the Dinan-Cap Fréhel Tourist Office.

Our international partners, Oscar LOPEZ, representing Quito Turismo, and Carlos OROZCO from Ministerio Turismo Ecuador, were able to learn about France’s experience in tourism and heritage, and exchange their respective experiences.