Of course, there's no sea like in Antibes. Or the champagne vineyards and timber-framed houses of Troyes. But there is a converted industrial past, a contemporary élan and a special warmth. In fact, Saint-Etienne often joins these two cities on the convention circuit around France. More and more French cities are positioning themselves in the market for conferences and major professional events, the metropolis plays to its strengths. Starting with easy TGV access from Paris and facilities designed to accommodate up to 800 people. Or even more, now that the exhibition centre has demonstrated its capacity to host events with up to 2,000 participants in the plenary hall.
Reconstruction of Hall A, renovation of Hall B: the exhibition centre, which will reopen in 2020, offers more than 16,000 m² of covered space and will enable the city to position itself as one of the world's leading exhibition centres. larger-scale projectsThis is one of the ambitions of Saint-Etienne Events. The venue is one of five major event venues in the city owned by this company, which is 65% owned by GL Events and 35% by Loire Action, the association that managed the exhibition centre until the end of the last decade.
As for the others - with the exception of Métrotech, a mini convention centre nestling in the greenery at the heart of a business park at Saint-Jean Bonnefonds -, they all embody the city's history in their own way. The conference centre, with its 800-seat amphitheatre and 15 workshop rooms seating between 15 and 200 people, is located in the former Manufrance headquarters. Next door, La Verrière, one of the company's former administrative buildings, was transformed into a top-of-the-range event venue in 2020. " A beautiful setting, 800 m² plus 200 m² on the mezzanine, offering an infinite playground. Whether it's gala evenings in conjunction with congresses, trophy awards, conferences or seminars, but also team building, why not small trade fairs with around forty stands? "says Mickael Henriot, Managing Director of Saint-Étienne Events.
The latest of these meeting points, with its 300-seat auditorium and three meeting rooms, bridges the gap between the past and the future. Located in the Cité du design, this contemporary building, integrated into the Platine building, contributes to the metamorphosis of another flagship venue dhe industrial power of Saint-Etienne the Manufacture d'armes. In its former industrial buildings, this historic site is already home to innovative companies and students from the Saint-Étienne School of Art and Design campus. However, the development of the site, which began in 2009, will see the creation of attractive new venues for both the general public and business customers.
New horizons
As part of the "Cité du design 2025" project, a museum - the Galerie nationale du design - and a meeting space - the Grande Halle Evénementielle - will be added next year. And by 2028, there will be an 80-room hotel. " Today, it's a district that lives mainly through students and businesses. The idea is to make it a real place to live. Having a new museum like this as a venue for major events, It's going to be great for business tourism "Fleurine Buriane, head of the city's Convention Bureau.
And for tourism in general, since business travellers make up the vast majority of visitors to the city. " In hotels, business customers represent 80% of activityThe rest was mainly football matches and the many cultural events taking place in the city. It's a real pleasure to work with you," explains Sébastien Courbon, Chairman of the Club Hôtelier Stéphanois and also Director of the Novotel and ibis hotels located just opposite the Chateaucreux TGV station.
Although one of Saint Etienne's major companies, Casino, is currently struggling, the town's hotel industry can count on the local economic fabric with successes in medical textiles such as Thuasne and Sigvaris, and in industrial robotics with Siléane, to drive up business, including travellers and seminars. " The hotel occupancy rate is around 65% for the yearsays Sébastien Courbon. If I look at the figures for the start of the year, we have more volume than at the same time in 2024. ".
The Saint-Etienne hotel club has 27 member establishments, together accounting for 90% of the city's capacity, ranging from two- and three-star hotel residences to four-star establishments such as the Novotel Saint-Etienne Châteaucreux or, further from the city centre, the Best Western Portes du Forez in Andrézieux Bouthéon or La Charpinière in Saint-Galmier, two establishments offering a wide range of seminar facilities. " Saint-Etienne is lucky to have everything within easy reachsays the chairman of Club Hôtelier Stéphanois. I'll take Lyon as an example, because I've worked there: a delegate staying in the Confluence district will probably take longer to get there from the Cité Internationale than to get from the exhibition centre to Saint-Galmier. "
One question remains: if you add the establishments that are not part of the hotel club, including another four-star hotel, the Hôtel du Golf, the city and its surrounding area have a total of 44 hotels with 2100 roomsThere are also 6,200 beds that can be booked for short-term rentals such as Airbnb. This compares with almost twice as many hotels in Clermont Ferrand, for example. While the size of the park is undoubtedly sufficient to accommodate visiting professionals and seminars, isn't it a hindrance to hosting larger events, as Saint-Etienne Events aims to do? " No doubt for big events, admits Sébastien Courbon. Having additional establishments would enable us to reach even larger conferences. ".
Alongside business-business establishments, could lifestyle hotels one day have their place in the landscape? One thing is certain, it would be in line with the city's direction towards design and contemporary art, and street art too, with the recent opening of MAUSA in Saint-Chamond. Any candidates?
