Mespite the advent of new technologies, getting together with colleagues remains a constant, almost vital need. In fact, over the last fifty years or so, the number of international congresses and meetings has risen steadily throughout the world. According to a study by the International Congress and Convention Association (CICA) over the period 1963-2013, the number of regular association events, involving at least 50 people and taking place in at least three countries, has doubled every ten years. The last decade has been no exception, with this type of event rising from less than 6,000 in 2006 to more than 12,212 in 2016, 136 more than in 2015.
France, with 545 meetings registered, comes in second place. fourth place in the CICA rankings 2016, up one place on 2015. It is true that France has a large number of centres - over 120 - with a high concentration in the Mediterranean basin and the Ile-de-France region, which alone offers 13 centres, six of which are in Paris. Moreover, the French capital continues to lead the world in terms of international congresses - 196 in 2016 - ahead of Vienna and Barcelona.
This pre-eminent role is not about to diminish as Viparis, manager of a dozen exhibition venues, is set to give the capital a trump card with a new congress and convention centre at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Expected to open next autumn, the Paris Convention Centre will offer 5,200 seats in plenary session, making it the largest auditorium in Europe in this configuration! In April 2018, 11,000 liver disease experts will gather in its state-of-the-art meeting rooms, and in August 2019, 33,000 cardiology specialists will take their turn. The exceptional modularity of this centre will enable it to adapt to all the needs of organisers.
Next to Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, France's other convention centres look almost Lilliputian! According to Coach Omnium, specialists in business tourism research, almost two-thirds have a capacity of less than 5,000 m2with only 22 % exceeding 10,000 m2. More generally, the average capacity of these venues varies between 300 and 500 seats. Another finding of this study, new venues spring up for the last ten years or so, while renovations are well under way and other projects such as the Strasbourg Exhibition Centre and the convention centres in Metz, Valenciennes and Le Havre are coming on stream.
Among other major developments, Coach Omnium also points to the emergence of increasingly flexible spaces designed to accommodate different types of event. This is the case, for example, of the future Metz Métropole Convention Centre, due to open in September 2018. Entrusted to the imagination of the Wilmotte & associés agency, the building will feature several modular areas, including two halls totalling 3,400 m2 exhibition space and a 1,200-seat auditorium.
Modularity is also a feature of the future Toulouse Exhibition Centre and Convention Centrescheduled for 2020. "It will be the totem of the pink city"Hubert Calmettes, Director of the Toulouse Métropole Attractiveness Agency, proudly announces. With its multi-purpose facilities, it will offer companies 70,000 m2 of covered exhibition space and 26,000 m² of outdoor space.
With this new MICE facility, Toulouse aims to position itself as a major French city when it comes to hosting congresses and professional events. The new facility will be able to host conferences for 1,200 to 10,000 people, with plenary sessions for 3,500 to 5,000, and will complement the Pierre Baudis Convention Centre, which has a modular plenary hall seating 1,200, as well as an amphitheatre for 500 participants. "We're ranked fifth in France in the latest ICCA rankings. With the opening of this exhibition and convention centre, we expect to gain further ground. In terms of capacity, we'll be in third place behind Paris and Lyon."says the director from Toulouse.
For Lille Grand PalaisModularity is nothing new. "Since its conception over 20 years ago, it has been designed like a Rubik's cube."laughs Stéphane Kintzig, General Manager. The building comprises three auditoriums, to which we can add the exhibition sections and the Zenith Arena, all under one roof. The building's interior layout, designed by architect Rem Koolhaas, allows for extremely fluid circulation between the various interconnected spaces.
This means that the venue can be booked as a whole, or partitioned as required. The three entities - Palais des Congrès, Parc des Expositions and Zénith Arena - are therefore suitable for all kinds of events with up to 20,000 participants. A three-in-one structure that welcomes over a million people and 300 events every year. "The fact that it is fully partitionable and versatile means that we can organise several events at the same time and meet the exponential demand for congresses and exhibitions."says Stéphane Kintzig. Among the forthcoming events, the 10e international cyber security forum will be held in January 2018, bringing together 10,000 people.
The Corum, MontpellierWith more than 25 years' experience in this field, the company has also been a pioneer in the field of shopfitting. "From the outset, all its spaces were designed to be modular. What once seemed avant-garde has now become a selection criterion for organisers."says François Chritin, MICE & Sports Development Manager at Montpellier Events. Ranked third in France in 2016 by the ICCA, Montpellier is particularly well placed in the medical congress market. Last year, the city hosted 107 professional events, including 23 international congresses attended by between 600 and 800 delegates. François Chritin emphasises that modularity is also a question of the complementary nature of the sites: "The Corum can accommodate up to 2,500 people, while the Arena, a multi-purpose hall located a stone's throw from the exhibition centre and the Zénith, has a capacity of 8,000 theatre-style seats. This enables us to attract large-capacity conferences."
Perfectly complementary
A similar complementarity exists in Lyon, as Valérie Ducaud, Director of the Convention Bureau, points out: "The auditorium of la Cité-Centre de congrès has 3,000 seats and the Eurexpo Lyon exhibition centre has 4,200. Overall, the Cité offers 25,000 m2 of fully modular space including three amphitheatres, 25 rooms for 50 to 450 people and over 8,000 m2 available on the same level." This potential enabled Lyon to host 61 association congresses last year, including 36 international %s, with an average of 3,000 participants per event.
This diversity also benefits Marseille, which plans to attract meetings with more than 4,000 participants. According to Maxime Tissot, Director of the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau, "One of the city's key assets is its three convention centres, starting with Marseille Chanot whose spaces have been designed without pillars, enabling them to be arranged according to requirements and to accommodate up to 7,000 participants in plenary sessions. The Palais du Pharo has a modular space with a capacity of 1,000. Finally, the City Center Vieux Port, which underwent a complete overhaul from 2016 to 2017, reopened its doors in September with 2,600 m2 meeting rooms." The city hosts almost 500 events a year, including some 70 conferences generally attended by between 300 and 700 people. Well positioned in the medical and scientific sectors, Marseille is also aiming to establish itself in the new technologies market, particularly through its economic clusters.
Bordeaux, another major French city for business tourism with almost 100 conferences a year, has seven buildings, three of which - the Cité Mondiale, the Palais de la Bourse and Hangar 14 - are in the city centre. Renovated in 2012, the Cité Mondiale boasts a 300-seat amphitheatre and a 1,270 m2 a fully modular exhibition and catering facility. Just a fifteen-minute tram ride away, in the Bordeaux LakeThere is also a second convention centre. This consists of three units adapted to large-scale events: the exhibition centre with 70,000 m2 of floor space, a convention centre with a maximum capacity of 2,000 participants and soon a 3,000 m2scheduled to open by the end of 2018. The fully modular facility will feature an amphitheatre with a plenary seating capacity of 6,000.
So Amélie Dechenais, head of the convention office, can say that today.., "Bordeaux's core target is meetings with 1,500 to 2,000 participants. That doesn't mean we can't host larger events, such as the national lawyers' conference, which attracts nearly 4,000 members of the legal profession!" Bordeaux is also planning a new 1,410-seat conference centre in the Mérignac airport area. The building is part of project 45e Parallèle and will be adjoined by a 154-room 4-star hotel and five office buildings.
Of course, medium-sized cities are also very interested in the MICE clientele. So Nantes and Saint-Nazaire have joined forces to present organisers with a common destination suitable for meetings of up to 2,000 people. Their efforts are bearing fruit, with Nantes moving up from 126e position in 2015 in the CICA rankings to that of 107e in 2016. "Conference delegates appreciate the human scale of our city, enabling them to move quickly from one place to another."says Lucile Suire, head of the fledgling Nantes Convention Bureau, which is now France's fifth-largest city for rotating international conferences, ahead of... Bordeaux!
To mark its 25th anniversary, the Cité des Congrès underwent a complete renovation in 2017, and now boasts some thirty modular rooms seating up to 4,000 people. "Our convention centre hosted 152 events. Of these, 27 were international in scope. This represents 40 % of our MICE business."explains Lucile Suire, who explains these results by the fact that "a dynamic economic fabric, particularly in the new technologies, agri-food, medical and renewable maritime energy sectors." The presence of shipyards is a key factor in the choice of destination.
Participants in Biarritz will find the same characteristics. "We offer a single venue with four convention centres located in the city centre, facing the ocean and all within walking distance"says Gérald Buscemi, Sales and Marketing Director of Biarritz Congrès. Every year, the seaside resort welcomes 65,000 delegates, representing some 125 conferences with an average size of 500 participants. "Our modularity and versatility are reflected in our sites, which are close to each other and can be used simultaneously."says Gérald Buscemi. The Bellevue, with its Belle Epoque charm, has a 477-seat auditorium and around ten rooms. The Casino Municipal can accommodate a conference of 700 people, while the Art Nouveau-style former railway station can seat 1,400, and the Halle d'Iraty can hold up to 1,500 delegates.
Old stone and modern architecture
Troyes also offers delegates a prestigious venue. The historic capital of Champagne renovated the Hôtel du Département in 2014 to create a modern and innovative conference centre. The centre comprises a 1,000 m2 and 800 seats, plus 10 meeting rooms. "We now have a real conference offering with state-of-the-art facilities in a setting combining wood, concrete, glass and aluminium. This building complements the Espace Argence, in the heart of the historic centre, with its modular 1,600 m2and the Cube, an exhibition centre with a capacity of 6,500 people"says Cécile Lupo, sales manager for Aube en Champagne tourism and congresses.
For her part, Karine Treguer, Destination Rennes Development Director, is also banking on the inauguration of thea new conference centre, the Couvent des Jacobinsexpected in January 2018, as well as the opening of the EuroRennes business district, to help the Breton city regain its place among France's MICE destinations. Located in the heart of the city centre, in a former convent dating from the XVIe The future convention centre is a surprising mix of old stone and modern architecture. A contemporary extension will be added to the old building, with high-tech rooms, two auditoriums seating 1,000 and 300, a 500-seat auditorium, 25 sub-committee rooms and an exhibition area of 4,000 m2. The aim is to host 150 conferences a year. Some forty events have already been confirmed for 2018. "60 % are national and international events. 34 % are larger than 800 people"says Karine Treguer. Just 1 hour 25 minutes from Paris by LGV, Rennes is now becoming a serious competitor for other business destinations.
The spiritual and political centre of Brittany, it was occupied by the military after the Second World War.
the Revolution. The Couvent des Jacobins is now dedicated to business tourism. DR
The Paris-Saclay Convention Centredue to open in December, is also totally atypical. The latest addition to the Châteauform' Eurosites group, it aims to shake up the codes of business tourism by combining work rooms and convivial areas. Designed by Christian de Portzamparc, the 5,500 m2 will house a 600-seat auditorium with a large stage and seven-metre-high ceilings, as well as seven modular meeting rooms and more than 300 m2 convivial areas. "We want participants to feel at home and have the opportunity to exchange ideas in a cosy atmosphere."says Erwan Jouët, Director of Convention & Events Development. The venue is designed to be multi-disciplinary, capable of hosting B-to-B operations as well as exhibitions and cultural events. To achieve this, all the partitions are removable.
On the other hand, this convention centre - which hopes to obtain the Iso 20121 sustainable standard - stands out by being located on the Place Grand Ouest, which includes housing, shops, a cinema and a hotel, and is 100 m from the Massy RER and TGV stations. Here too, all the traditional codes have been broken, kicking off a new generation of convention centres integrated into the city.
At the heart of life, then.
