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Part of the Pays de la Loire region, Vendée is a “department” created in 1790 which today has a population of 700,000. It is served by a very good motorway and rail network, and the close-by Nantes airport offers destinations throughout France and 15 European countries.
Dynamism and art of living
Located on the Atlantic coast, its shoreline, called the Côte de Lumière (coast of light), runs over 140 kilometers of fine sandy beaches. The islands, the Yeu island and the Noirmoutier island, and the seaside resorts, such as Les Sables-d'Olonne (less than 40 km from La Roche sur Yon), make it a very popular tourist hotspot and a European Tourist Destination of Excellence.
International exposure
Internationally known for its amazing and unique theme Park, the Puy du Fou, and for the Vendée Globe, the single-handed sailing race, Vendée attracts 5 million tourists per year.
Land of history and contrasts
Vendée is also a land of greenery with bocage and marshes. The marshes, part of the Marais Poitevin, Regional Nature Reserve, earned Vendée its nickname of "Green Venice"; it is a land of history too, and we can still visit thousand-year-old abbeys The castles, which show to its dramatic/eventful history, marked by the Wars of Religion and the Wars of Vendée.
Economic opportunities
Vendée has a spirit of resistance and entrepreneurship. It has a lower unemployment rate than the national average. Resolutely turned towards France and the world, 5000 companies are established on its territory. Not the least of which is Bénéteau, the world's leading builder of pleasure boats. Shipbuilding, fishing, fish farming and oyster farming are dynamic sectors, as are agriculture and food processing, industry, transport, construction and the service sector.