Almost all the people of Mayenne have had to answer the famous question one day: “but where is the Mayenne?”. It is precisely while having fun with this cliché that Mayenne Tourisme created a card to send to friends who still don’t know where the department is. We see the Mayenne colored in orange, pointed by a large arrow. In the shadow of its Breton and Sarthe neighbors, Mayenne is often a place of passage, but not necessarily a favored destination for the French.
” It’s true that coming from the East, it’s a place of passage to go to Brittany, but we didn’t necessarily stop there “ admits Marie-Josée. With her husband Philippe, they came from Saone-et-Loire in a motorhome. This time, they did indeed stop at Sainte-Suzanne to the east of Mayenne.
The village has indeed obtained the label ” most beautiful village in France ” in 2010. The opportunity for Olivier, from Mayenne, to show his native region to his partner, Isabelle. ” I’m proud of my department so I’m happy to introduce him to it. Unfortunately, few people stop there even though there are plenty of beautiful things to see. “he laments.
Success on social networks
It is precisely by wanting to assume this lack of visibility that Mayenne Tourisme imagined its computer graphics. ” En starting from the observation that the question was often asked, we wanted to answer it ourselves “explains Joël Balandraud, the president of Mayenne Tourisme. Beyond the offbeat aspect of the operation, he is aware that the department suffers from a lack of popularity. ” This is the case for many rural areas. We don’t want it to be a fatality anymore, so we try to make Mayenne known.”
On social networks, Internet users have not failed to react. The post was liked, shared and commented on more than 11,000 times in the space of a few days. ” There were a lot of positive reactions, from people who seized on this map to tell something about the Mayenne. There is a kind of pride expressed “continues Joël Balandraud.
In 2021, nearly 13 million tourists passed through Mayenne, including 6 million who stayed there for at least half a day, according to Mayenne Tourisme.