Our commitments | La Ciotat Tourist Office

All about our commitments

The categories

Tourist Offices are classified into different categories according to the size of their territory, the number of tourists they attract and the services they offer.

Category I is the highest category for a Tourist Office, corresponding to a large-scale, high-quality Tourist Office, and this is the one we have in La Ciotat!

Category 1 commitments

The labels

Labels are certifications issued by the French government to recognise the quality of the services and facilities offered by Tourist Offices. These labels are based on a grid of precise criteria defined by the Ministry of Tourism.

For our part, the Tourist Office has renewed its Tourisme & Handicap label for 2025 (valid for 5 years). This label is awarded to Tourist Offices that have set up facilities and services adapted for people with disabilities.

Tourism quality commitments

Better welcome, better advice, better satisfaction

La Ciotat Tourist Office has been awarded the Quality Tourism label. As such, it undertakes to :

Looking after the environment

Maintaining a pleasant reception area

Keeping the premises and surrounding area clean

Understanding and anticipating everyone's expectations

Provide a fast, efficient telephone service

Facilitate visitor access with appropriate signage and accessibility

Adapt opening hours

Communicating clear and precise information

Provide clear, reliable and up-to-date tourist information

Provide detailed information on the services on offer in the destination

Treat every visitor as a guest

Deal with each visitor as soon as they arrive

Dealing with unforeseen requests by offering alternative solutions

Limiting waiting time

Guarantee a high level of visitor satisfaction

Personalising your welcome according to the type of customer

Meet the needs expressed by each visitor by listening appropriately

Facilitating contact with foreign-speaking visitors

Meet the specific needs of visitors with disabilities

Measuring and improving reception quality

Gather visitor feedback and take it into account

Carry out regular in-house assessments of reception quality

Take the necessary steps to improve reception quality

Work in synergy with the bodies responsible for tourism in our sector: Comité Régional du Tourisme PACA – Provence Tourisme, etc.

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Destination of Excellence Commitments

Towards a more responsible, more sustainable and more exemplary form of tourism.

The La Ciotat Tourist Office is committed to the national ‘Destination d’Excellence’ scheme, the new benchmark label for tourism professionals in France.

Created by the government and managed by Atout France, this label recognises organisations that are committed to continuously improving the quality of their hospitality and services, whilst strengthening their efforts towards sustainable development, accessibility and social responsibility.

Read our sustainable development and social responsibility policy

This approach is based on two complementary pillars:

The quality of hospitality and services: listening to visitors, providing reliable information, ensuring the professionalism of our teams and continuously improving customer satisfaction;

Environmental responsibility: reducing environmental impacts, the prudent management of resources, accessibility for all and contributing to more sustainable tourism.

As part of its application for the ‘Destination d’Excellence’ label, the La Ciotat Tourist Office is implementing a number of initiatives aimed at:

continuously improve the quality of its services;

promote environmentally friendly tourism;

promote sustainable transport and best practice amongst visitors;

make tourist information more accessible;

raise awareness amongst its partners of the challenges of sustainable tourism.

This initiative is fully in line with the aim of making La Ciotat a welcoming, responsible and sustainable destination for visitors and residents alike.

To find out more about the ‘Destination d’Excellence’ scheme, visit the official website

Commitments to sustainable development

La Ciotat Tourist Office is committed to an environmental approach and carries out a number of actions in this area on a daily basis.

Lighting and electrical equipment

We use LEDs and energy-saving light bulbs for our lighting

We have adopted energy-saving practices

We switch off electrical equipment – PCs, photocopiers and power strips – outside opening hours

We use the eco-friendly search engine Ecosia

The lighting is switched on only when necessary and switched off when the Tourist Office is closed

If staff are away from their workstations for an extended period during the day, we systematically switch off our computers

We adjust the lighting according to the seasons and weather conditions

We check the room temperature before using the heating or air conditioning. The heating is switched on when the room temperature is below 21°C. The air conditioning is switched on when the room temperature is above 26°C

We do not include email signatures in internal emails to reduce file size

Where possible, we purchase second-hand equipment.

We prioritise the use of Teams for internal communication rather than sending energy-intensive emails

We prefer telephone calls to video calls.

Paper management

We only print when necessary

We prioritise double-sided printing to minimise the amount we print

We recycle printed documents for our in-house printing

We manage our stock levels to meet visitor demand.

We work with printers that hold eco-labels (PEFC and Imprim Vert)

We encourage visitors to view the Tourist Office’s publications on the Tourist Office website rather than receiving paper copies by scanning a QR code available in the reception area and on an outdoor sign.

We encourage visitors to download our publications from the Tourist Office website or to receive the requested material by email rather than having it sent automatically by post

We send our mail at the Lettre Verte rate (more economical and environmentally friendly, lower CO2 emissions, delivery within 48 hours)

We transport our publications to trade fairs to minimise postage costs

Shop

We sell items sourced mainly from local producers and artisans.

Travel

We encourage car-sharing and the use of public transport when attending meetings and taking part in external activities.

We limit travel for staff members living outside the urban area. They are entitled to at least one day of remote working per week.

We encourage visitors to use public transport or cycle

Selective sorting and waste management

We sort our recyclable materials (cardboard, paper, plastic) in-house and place them in the designated bins located 50 metres away on Boulevard Anatole France

We have installed an outdoor ash bin which collects cigarette ends and converts them into fuel for energy production

We collect used batteries and small battery packs

We prioritise the purchase of eco-friendly products

We use reusable water bottles or small bottles which we refill as often as we like

We provide dog waste bags on request

We have fitted aerators to the taps in the Tourist Office to reduce water usage

Where possible, we purchase reconditioned equipment.