At the end of the year, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions met in Paris to promote their major MICE destinations through workshops for professionals. This was an opportunity for them to highlight current and future developments in business tourism of their main cities.
New infrastructures, new offers, but above all new environmental labels: as well as offering new venues for business meetings, several destinations have taken advantage of the past year or so to mark their involvement in reducing the environmental footprint of events.
In the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Biarritz Tourisme and its convention centres received certification this summer. ISO 20121. This green certification, which the Bordeaux Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau has held since 2021, also recognises the sustainable efforts of Bordeaux Convention and Exhibition Centre. The operator of the city's main business tourism venues has also recently been renamed Bordeaux Events and More, or "BEAM", to give itself a more modern and international image.
While the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region has the declared ambition of becoming France's leading sustainable destination, other major cities are following suit, notably La Rochelle Tourism and Events which is aiming to achieve ISO 20121 certification by the end of 2023, in parallel with a process to obtain the Sustainable Innovative Destination label. At the same time, the region intends to everything you need for great green and fresh air for contemporary incentives and team-building activities, whether in the Arcachon Basin, in the Landes or around Niort, in the Marais Poitevin.
Similarly, MICE destinations in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region can pride themselves on their environmental approach, in particular Grenoble named European Green Capital 2022Lyon's ONLY LYON tourist office will receive ISO 20121 certification in 2022. Clermont Auvergne Tourisme's environmental policy was also recognised this year with this certification, while Saint-Etienne is due to receive it shortly.
New top-of-the-range facilities for MICE
This CSR approach, shared by all MICE destinations, is also coupled with new infrastructures. Last September, Saint-Etienne saw the inauguration of a new venue, the Arena Saint-Étienne Métropole, in Saint Chamond, which will help to shape the city's sporting and cultural scene, as well as its MICE offering. The NF-HQE-certified venue has a 400-person capacity for evenings and conventions, extended by a terrace overlooking the Pilat regional park. In the same vein, Lyon is to have a new XXL events venue - the largest outside Paris - with the LDLC Arena. Located in OL Vallée, the area around Olympique Lyonnais' Groupama Stadium, this arena is mainly intended for basketball matches and concerts, but also for professional events, with a capacity ranging from 12,000 to 16,000 people.
Also in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, the city of Valence opened a brand new events complex at the start of the year, a 15-minute walk from Valence Ville station and around 15 minutes by public transport from the TGV station. Named "Jacques Chirac", it brings together a convention centre and exhibition centre under one roofA total surface area of 10,000m². This modular venue, suitable for all types of events, comprises four halls and more than 6,900m² of exhibition space, a 500-seat auditorium, around ten meeting rooms ranging from 45 to 140m², two reception areas, a private garden and a space dedicated to conviviality with a 220m² terrace.
When it comes to new infrastructure, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region is not to be outdone, an extension of Futuroscope's MICE offering. 300 metres from the congress centre and theme parkThis year saw the inauguration of the Arena Futuroscope, adding a further 6,000m2 modular event spaces. For corporate events, the Arena offers its main hall, with a seating capacity of 5,500 and state-of-the-art technical facilities, as well as four VIP lounges ranging from 100 to 250 m2 and three other rooms that can accommodate 80 to 170 people. Further south and on the Atlantic coast, in Royan, the Palais des Congrès has undergone major renovation work at the initiative of the metropolis, and will reopen its doors in 2023 once it has been refurbished.
Previously, other destinations had increased their MICE offerings during the pandemic years, such as Chambéry Montagnes, with the renovation and expansion of its events facilities. This programme has enabled the destination to offer an exhibition centre and a multi-purpose hall on the same site, with over 13,000 m² of space for events of between 100 and 3,500 people. For its part, Saint-Etienne has seen the completion of the transformation of its exhibition centre and the renovation of La Verrière, a former Manufrance industrial site converted into an events venue in conjunction with events at the neighbouring convention centre.
Clermont Auvergne Tourisme,HEMIS
The city of Clermont-Ferrand, which is aiming to be elected European Capital of Culture in 2028, also has a new venue for hosting major conferences, with the extension of the Grande Halle d'Auvergne. A new hall has recently been added double the capacity of the exhibition centre of the Auvergne capital by adding 12,600 m2 of exhibition space, plus a 614-seat auditorium and 12 conference rooms. So there's plenty of room for expansion.
