A good local idea: when an entire municipality mobilises to support its hospitality sector
How can you ensure that the thousands of visitors discovering a municipality also benefit its local businesses? In Villers-la-Ville, the MR majority chose an original approach: bringing citizens, self-employed workers, associations and public authorities together around a common goal.
The starting point is simple. Every year, nearly 160,000 people visit the Villers-la-Ville Abbey. Yet this tourist flow still generates too little benefit for the municipality's hospitality businesses. Restaurants, cafés, breweries, caterers and food trucks offer a rich and varied range, often unknown to visitors.
To meet this challenge, the municipality developed a digital platform listing the full range of local hospitality businesses. But behind this tool lies, above all, an exemplary collective approach.
The project is part of the Communal Rural Development Programme (PCDR), a fact rare enough to be worth noting. Economic projects are uncommon there, and this initiative was in fact praised by the Fondation Rurale de Wallonie. Through the Local Rural Development Commission (CLDR), made up of citizens and elected representatives, several working groups were set up with professionals from the sector. The result: a project built together by citizens, economic stakeholders and political leaders.
On the initiative of Alderwoman for Trade Julie Charles (MR), the municipality also formed a partnership with the Cercle des Entrepreneurs, Commerçants et Indépendants de Villers (CECI), which made its platform available for the project. Each business thus has its own access and can manage its own profile, information and updates. To help businesses get to grips with the tool, the municipality organised support workshops for shopkeepers.
The project's other strength lies in its visibility. To avoid it remaining just a little-visited website, significant networking work was carried out. QR codes and information materials have been placed at various strategic locations across the municipality, particularly around the Abbey. The platform is also promoted by several local partners, including the Abbey and its theatre. Businesses can also access their visitor statistics, a valuable asset for improving their online visibility and search ranking.
The whole scheme is based on a particularly accessible model. Public investment is essentially limited to the creation of communication materials. For participating businesses, membership costs 50 euros, a deductible amount that also includes CECI membership, with a “satisfaction guaranteed or your money back” bonus.
This initiative perfectly illustrates what liberal local governance can achieve: starting from a concrete need, bringing good will together and creating simple tools that directly support economic activity. A good local idea that shows that, with cooperation and common sense, it is possible to turn tourism potential into an opportunity for an entire area.