Today, we all need to recognise how urgent it is to protect and preserve our planet. That means taking action for the environment.
To this end, Vacances Léo Lagrange has decided to develop a structured working method with clear objectives:
Raising awareness of the need to preserve natural resources through suitable activities
Training the staff of our sites using participatory methods
Combatingenergy waste through regular reminders
Promotingshort supply chains through strong ties with local stakeholders
Still in a spirit of unity, effectiveness and credibility, we work in close partnership with major NGOs such as Surfrider Foundation Europe, and with other specialist organisations such as France Nature Environnement.
Green Key (Clef Verte)
Because we want to be assessed objectively in this eco-responsible approach, we have called on an independent body.
The GREEN KEY (CLEF VERTE) scheme is a programme run by the French office of the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE), which awards an international label and thereby confirms compliance with strict and precise specifications.
Our environmental policy work schedule provides for one resort to be awarded the label each year.
Our labelled and certified eco-citizen policy
In addition, we have decided to have our resorts labelled by an independent international body, under the “Green Key” (Clef Verte) label. This label is awarded annually and requires applicants to meet precise criteria and to provide extensive supporting documents.
Finally, 70% of our resorts are located in Regional or National Nature Parks and have obtained the “Valeurs Parcs” brand. This brand was created on the initiative of the Fédération des Parcs Naturels Régionaux de France (the French federation of regional nature parks) to enable consumers to identify products and services offered by businesses that respect local sustainable development and help to structure their local areas.
Creating national and international synergies
As members of the Fédération Léo Lagrange (an organisation recognised as being of public utility), we sit on the International Social Tourism Organisation, and we are members of the Union Nationale des Associations de Tourisme (UNAT) and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Chambre Régionale de l’Economie Sociale et Solidaire (regional chamber of the social and solidarity economy). We are also signatories of the national Social Tourism charter and a founding member of France’s largest sustainable and social tourism alliance, PARCOURS Vacances.
Vacances Léo Lagrange is affiliated to the Fédération Léo Lagrange
The aim of these alliances is to speak with a united political voice, in order to make public authorities aware of the need to develop a strong, coherent and effective social tourism policy. Our mission is also to work alongside works councils and staff welfare committees (CSE, COS and CASC) to make holidays accessible to as many people as possible. It is in this context that, for many years, we have maintained close ties with almost a hundred organisations, including the Caisse Centrale des Activités Sociales des Industries Electriques et Gazières, the CESC UES MGEN, the CAES INSERM and the solidarity-based health mutual Solimut.
Finally, Vacances Léo Lagrange seeks to create synergies with other operators that share common values. Our non-profit group is thus proud to count among its partners organisations such as Floréal HOLLIDAYS (the leading sustainable tourism operator in Belgium), VVF Villages (the largest player in French social tourism) and ARTES (a major player in the Hauts-de-France region).
The philosophy of Léo Lagrange
Our association, Vacances Léo Lagrange, follows in the footsteps of a political figure whose generosity and commitment left their mark on the entire voluntary sector in France.
As Under-Secretary of State for Leisure in the Popular Front government (led by Léon Blum), he turned this modest ministry into a formidable lever of emancipation for young people and the working class. The phrase that made him famous was: “We must not mark out a single path for young people, but open up every road to them!”
We owe him, in particular, the introduction of paid holidays, the creation of the popular sports certificate (brevet sportif populaire), the development of youth hostels and the opening up of leisure and culture to all.
For him, paid holidays were an exceptional tool for the advancement of workers and their families. Fraternity between people of all backgrounds was at the heart of this approach.
In 1940, although as a member of parliament he was exempt from mobilisation, he nevertheless chose to enlist and was killed at the front, leaving an indelible mark on all those who work for a fairer and more tolerant society.
It is in this spirit that we wish to carry his message forward by offering stays that favour discovery and respect for local communities and natural spaces, with solidarity and togetherness at the heart of what we do.
Our history
You need to know where you come from to understand where you are going
Throughout our history, discover initiatives that were sometimes bold for their time. Always with the same aim: making holidays a unique opportunity to contribute to people’s emancipation. All along the way, our ambition has grown stronger: to organise stays based on the values of the ideal society we stand for – access to holidays for as many people as possible, being a cultural and civic player in the local community, raising awareness of environmental protection, supporting local employment and contributing to the economic development of local areas.
1936, The crucible of our values
How did one man manage, in less than two years, to change the lives of so many French men and women? Léo Lagrange simply lived his ideas to the full. And if you are wondering why we bear the name “Vacances Léo Lagrange”, the only answer is the legacy of a way of thinking that we owe to this Under-Secretary of State for Leisure and Sport of the Popular Front. As Frédéric Rosmini, President and founder of Vacances Léo Lagrange, loves to say: “He was a minister greater than his ministry”.
1960, The starting point
At that time, our team was mainly made up of enthusiastic volunteers. But since conviction and passion are the greatest sources of motivation, our work gradually became more professional. And so 1965 saw a burst of initiatives that were innovative for their time:
In particular, we were tasked with organising Franco-German exchanges aimed at fostering better understanding between young people.
Every summer, from June to September, we offered water sports and sporting activities at the Centre des Prophètes for children from Marseille who could not afford to leave the city,
And we also welcomed so many young people from every country at the Centre International de Tivoli.
Half a century of commitment to opening windows of curiosity for young people through tourism activities that showcase our region. A mission that makes sense, doesn’t it?
1965, The Franco-German exchanges
In the spirit of popular education, what might be the purpose of bringing young people together? Sharing and exchange make it possible to understand one another, and that is precisely what the Franco-German exchanges we organised in Marseille from 1965 onwards set out to achieve.
You know as well as we do that young people build the world of tomorrow. A fundamental issue for society, isn’t it? At the time, the aim of these reciprocal stays was the lasting reconciliation of the German and French peoples. And what better tool than a shared stay for meeting, talking and understanding one another?! Since then, we have never stopped forging relationships with different worlds, whether among our holidaymakers, our partners or our teams.
THE 60s And castles in England
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. With A Hard Day’s Night in their ears and pleated skirts at the school gates, so many young people in the 1960s dreamed of England.
While Great Britain was undergoing a tremendous cultural transformation, at the request of the Deputy Mayor for Social Welfare of the City of Marseille, we organised the first stays abroad for the children of municipal staff. So these were no castles in the air but real castles in England, which we rented for 12 years to host the young people of Marseille.
During these stays, we established a way of life based on cultural discovery and an educational approach rooted in popular education. Our ambition has always been to make holidays a window onto the world and a tool for people’s emancipation.
Since then, we have met so many of those young people again. Some now come back as holidaymakers in our family holiday villages. Others entrust their children to us for educational stays. Our story is written over several generations, and it is far from over!
FROM 1970 TO 1980, Our first holiday villages
Remember those stays in the mountains, by the sea or in the countryside. Remember those friends it was so hard to leave at the end of the holidays. All our holiday villages and leisure centres hold these memories like treasures, a testament to how much those shared moments matter.
1969 ➞ Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes, a first adventure
It is 1969, it is Christmas, and we are opening the doors of a former village school for new stays. There, we set our hearts on creating a warm, family atmosphere for children who were sometimes barely 5 years old.
In our vivid memories, it was in fact a canteen cook, a real doting grandmother, together with young staff recruited locally, who did so much to create this friendly atmosphere.
We offered ski stays, nature discovery stays and snow days twice a week. And that is how the origins of our expertise took shape.
1976 ➞ La Garde-Freinet, our first holiday village
At a time when tourism is nonetheless much talked about, social tourism struggles to make itself heard. But with us, commitments are made to be kept. So we open our first holiday village to welcome those who are denied holidays solely because of their financial situation. We stand up for the right to holidays and aim to make them available to everyone.
1977 ➞ The Frioul Islands, a leisure centre for the people of Marseille
In the early 1970s, the City of Marseille commissioned us to build a leisure centre for the people of Marseille in barely 6 months. Challenge met! The Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior of the day came to inaugurate our Frioul Islands holiday centre. This put our association, and through it all social and solidarity tourism organisations, in the spotlight.
1977 ➞ Ramatuelle, social tourism comes to the French Riviera
Spending your holidays on Pampelonne beach, on the Saint-Tropez peninsula: a dream for so many French people. And the dream comes true. In July 1977, almost five hundred holidaymakers, most of them with their families, bring this brand-new, only just completed holiday village to life, in the shadow of Ramatuelle. Coming from all over, families meet and social diversity reigns.
Aiguilles en Queyras, Risoul 1850, Calvi, Bouillante and all our current resorts bear witness to our history and to the expertise we have acquired through long experience.
Since then, the story has been written with you…
Vacances Léo Lagrange – Creating memories
Modernising tourism also means fighting to protect its social, cultural and environmental dimension
“More and more holidaymakers are looking for meaning when choosing their stays. Their expectations are becoming even stronger when it comes to sustainability, local sourcing, living together and the impact on the local areas where the tourism operators they choose are based.
For 40 years, even when it was not always in fashion, Vacances Léo Lagrange has never stopped championing a committed model of tourism, advocating energy sobriety, respect for local communities, the promotion of local areas, citizenship and the fight against all forms of discrimination.
Our teams are committed to working both on the quality of your stay as a guest and on fostering ties between generations, and to developing a policy of discovery and of access to quality culture and leisure that encourages exchange and solidarity.
The tourism industry offers a wide range of very varied products. For Vacances Léo Lagrange, tourism must be both a vehicle for people’s emancipation and a real lever for local development. By favouring short supply chains, recruiting first and foremost in the areas where we operate and working in close partnership with local authorities, we believe that our role as a tourism operator must actively contribute to the sustainable development of our local areas.
Finally, to fulfil our cultural ambitions and our commitment to promoting the performing arts, we work with many artists every day to offer you quality programmes combining emotion, reflection, sharing and togetherness. Going to see a show obviously has an emotional dimension, but also a social one. People rarely go to the theatre alone. It is often a wonderful opportunity to share a moment with loved ones and with the rest of the audience. Coming together in a shared place, time and emotion. That is what we offer you when you stay with us.”
The ANCV Seniors en Vacances programme with Vacances Léo Lagrange
Because you are never too old to get away, Vacances Léo Lagrange, in partnership with the ANCV, offers stays specially designed for people aged 60 and over, at a reduced rate and on a full-board basis.
Set off with peace of mind: everything is included so that you can make the most of your holiday. Comfortable accommodation, delicious meals, sociable activities, cultural entertainment and access to our facilities… everything is designed for your well-being.
Our resorts, located in the most beautiful regions of France, offer an ideal setting for relaxing, meeting new people and discovering the local heritage. Need advice or ideas for outings? Our teams are on hand to help you and make your stay unforgettable.
With Vacances Léo Lagrange, treat yourself to a peaceful, warm break full of discoveries.
All-inclusive, the Léo spirit
Full board, entertainment and kids’ clubs included
Our association, Vacances Léo Lagrange, follows in the footsteps of a political figure whose generosity and commitment left their mark on the entire voluntary sector in France.
Remember those stays in the mountains, by the sea or in the countryside. Remember those friends it was so hard to leave at the end of the holidays. All our holiday villages and leisure centres hold these memories like treasures, a testament to how much those shared moments matter.
