Financing

The Foundation, which is recognised as being of public utility, has an economic model that does not include public aid or operating subsidies and relies solely on its own resources. These resources are generated by Cité du Vin revenue (ticket sales and sales in the Boutique, private hire of spaces, engineering) and private donations through patronage.

The construction of Cité du Vin is the result of an original public-private partnership combining public and private financing through sponsorship. This is a fairly unusual financial arrangement in France.

The private sector, represented by 80 sponsor companies mainly from the region's wine sector, therefore plays a major role, representing 19% of construction funding.

In order to raise the remaining 81% of the total amount, the City of Bordeaux has succeeded in bringing on board numerous local authorities and institutional structures to contribute to the project.

The health crisis has seriously undermined the financial balance of the Foundation. In order to meet the present challenges, maintain jobs and remain an attractive and competitive establishment, the Foundation will be upgrading a significant amount of its equipment and repositioning its offer over the period 2022 to 2023. This renewal programme is called NEO-EXPERIENCE 2023.

To implement this new approach, Cité du Vin can rely on financial support from Europe and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region as part of the European Union's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as funding from Bordeaux Métropole and the City of Bordeaux.

Actions to upgrade facilities and reposition the offer are based on the following strategic avenues:

1- Digital transformation and digitalisation of the offer: upgrade of digital equipment, development of new applications and a new system of digital guidance for on-site visits, upgrade of the reservation, sales and counting system.

2- Taking into account changes in behaviour and the emergence of new expectations: upgrade of some of the attractions in the Permanent Tour, creation of an immersive tasting tour and a new tasting experience based on Bordeaux wines, creation of a streaming studio, adaptation of the equipment needed for private hire, upgrade of the reservation and sales system, creation of automatic lockers.

3- Need for more responsible consumption: upgrade of digital and computer equipment that uses less energy and minimises waste.

It should be noted that with regard to the third point, and in order to enhance Cité du Vin’s sustainable development approach, Cité du Vin obtained NF Environment certification as a visitor site in March 2021.

In order to implement this strategic approach, the project has been broken down into 16 actions, which focus on the following areas:

- The upgrade of some of Cité du Vin’s cultural attractions from 2021 to 2023. This upgrade will concern scenography, digital equipment and multimedia productions, placing greater focus on the Living World, to women and men in the Permanent Tour.

The new equipment will propose new immersive experiences, the use of innovative technologies, as well as better image and sound quality, while taking into account the challenge of digital sobriety.

- The development of a new visitor companion for the Permanent Tour (an "intelligent" multimedia guide system) and the acquisition of a set of adapted terminals to replace the current ones, which are at the end of their life. This system will offer new and expected functionalities such as personalisation and thematic searches.

- In 2023, the creation of an immersive tasting tour, with new, immersive and portable scenography. Building on the success of wine tourism, this innovative tour will allow visitors to enjoy a unique tasting experience based on several wines from around the world, while giving pride of place to aesthetics and artistic aspects. This tour will replace the temporary exhibitions, which generate waste and consume a lot of energy in transporting works.

- In 2022, the creation of a streaming studio in order to digitise the events of Cité du Vin's cultural programme to make them accessible to as many people as possible and to enable local players to digitise their events from Cité du Vin. The digitalisation of events is central to post-Covid development.

- The creation of mobile applications, one designed to inform visitors and enrich their visit and another dedicated to tasting workshops, offering multilingual translation.

- In 2022/2023, the introduction of new software for the management of physical ticketing, e-ticketing and e-commerce, new visitor counting software and the introduction of new automatic locker equipment.

The development of Cité du Vin's annual cultural programme (temporary exhibitions, events, workshops, etc.), as well as the renewal of investments in the Permanent Tour, are also made possible through the support of our sponsors.

This indispensable support contributes to the Foundation's mission of preserving and promoting the universal heritage of wine.