8. Chambres d'hôtes/Gîtes de France

A fair number of tourist boards, county and some regional councils offer assistance towards the cost of setting up, renovating or converting chambres d'hôtes and classified gîtes as part of a strategy of tourism development.

There are no national guidelines for this type of assistance, so you need to make enquiries to your Comité Départementale du Tourisme, your Conseil Général and/or your Conseil Régional .

As part of the condition of any assistance you will normally be required to make the property available for a minimum period, from three to nine years.

You should also be careful about the temptation to start a such a business in a particular locality, simply because there may be grants available to do so. Many areas of France already have a surfeit of bed and breakfast accommmodation and gîtes, so do your market research before you make application for assistance.