congress
MICE 2027: optimism persists; Paris ranks among the top 5 in Europe
Amex GBT publishes the 16th edition of its annual forecast dedicated to meetings and events: the Meetings & Events Forecast. Optimism remains high: 93 % of the professionals surveyed are confident for 2027, compared to 85 % in the previous edition. However, enthusiasm is fading. Indeed, the share of the «very optimistic» respondents has declined by 62…
oneworld revives its MICE offering and bets on the «golden age...
The oneworld alliance officially announced the return of its MICE offering on October 13, at the IMEX trade show in Las Vegas. The offer is aimed at event organizers. It gives them access to preferential rates on the 15 member airlines of the alliance, which serve nearly 1,000 destinations. The scope is wide: business meetings, conferences…
La Rochelle: the Espace Encan is enriched by the Marie-Josèphe Guillou Hall
After paying tribute to the famous host of the Thalassa show, Georges Pernoud, for renaming his renovated conference center last year, La Rochelle Tourism & Events honors another figure to symbolize the evolution of its MICE offering: Marie-Josèphe Guillou. A local personality who dedicated her entire life – and the…
GDS-Index: Helsinki still in the lead, Lyon on the threshold of the Top...
Make it three for Helsinki. Since 2024, Helsinki has claimed the top spot in the GDS-Index, the podium of which has remained unchanged for three years, with the Finnish capital followed by Gothenburg and Copenhagen. However, behind this stable podium, the rankings are shifting. Aarhus has moved from 7th to 4th place, while Sydney (7th) and Montreal (9th)…
Business tourism: Île-de-France reaches a milestone in 2025
On 2nd September, the Paris Ile-de-France CCI published the 2026 edition of its activity report on the exhibition and convention centres in the Greater Paris region. The figures show an acceleration across almost all indicators in a region that remains the leading business infrastructure offering in Europe, with 24 sites and nearly 700,000 m² of floor space…
Nice: the Océanice convention centre will be demolished in early 2027
It was a commitment made by Éric Ciotti during his campaign to win the mayoralty of Nice: Océanice must disappear from the Quai du Vieux Port. During a recent intervention to review his first 100 days at the head of the city, the mayor announced the dismantling of the congress centre in early 2027...
Renaissance of a conference icon: The ICC Berlin
Closed to the public for 12 years due to asbestos, one of the world's most iconic conference and convention centres is set to be reborn as a centre dedicated to arts, culture, events, and even... conventions! It was a time when the city of West Berlin, isolated by the wall, was receiving…
Switzerland Destination: a train of innovations for MICE
Cities on a human scale, surrounded by nature and beautiful landscapes, bearing the marks of their rich past but looking towards the future, and all easily accessible by TGV from Paris: Switzerland offers everything that appeals to event organisers today. Namely, compact destinations where everything is done on foot or...
Nice: the convention centre project is back near...
The election of Eric Ciotti as mayor of Nice and its Métropole has led to a re-examination of the city's business tourism projects, with some of the former mayor Christian Estrosi's projects not favoured by his successor. However, the mayor has ultimately decided to approve the one aiming to create a large MICE hub on...
The priorities of conference centres deciphered by the IACC
What are the main challenges facing conference centres in 2026? The IACC (International Association of Conference Centres) has compiled some answers in the new edition of the Meeting Room of the Future study. With a panel of 425 centres in 19 countries, the association was able to leverage a wide range...
ICCA Rankings: Paris back on the podium, behind Lisbon
A return to normal, or almost. Paris, which fell to 6th place in the 2024 ICCA rankings, with many organisers avoiding the capital in the Olympic year, has regained its position among the world's leading congress cities in 2025. In the musical chairs game played with Vienna…
Brussels Convention Street: interview with Ariane Deguelle (SQUARE)
In Brussels, a new approach to professional events is emerging, Brussels Convention Street, which aims to make the Mont des Arts a connected congress district by linking the SQUARE convention centre to four emblematic institutions: BOZAR, KBR – Royal Library of Belgium, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and the BELvue Museum.
The Cape Town International Convention Centre is set to move to the...
It is the jewel in the crown of business travel in South Africa. The Cape Town International Convention Centre, or CTICC, is an exceptional venue of nearly 141,000 m² which consists of two parts, CTICC 1 and CTICC 2, connected by a skywalk. In total, the complex, which allows...
A. Déchénais (Bordeaux Convention Bureau): "a ramp-up of..."
How is the events sector in Bordeaux performing? Amélie Dechénais - The destination has seen continuous growth since the pandemic. Between 2024 and 2025, we are observing a certain stabilisation, but at particularly high levels with trade fairs that are mainly national in scope, as well as international scientific and professional congresses. This momentum…
Nantes: the Cité des Congrès reinvents itself, the LAPS takes...
In Nantes, the MICE sector is undergoing a metamorphosis. The Cité des Congrès has embarked on a renovation plan, with two watchwords: performance and sustainability. Among the main innovations for event organisers to look forward to are a completely renovated Grand Auditorium, as well as a new opening onto a garden, allowing for the extension of events outdoors. The performances…
Congress: the CICA is preparing a tool to measure global impact
What is the impact of an event bringing together several hundred or several thousand people? This is the essential question to which ICCA is now trying to provide a concrete, and as far as possible, scientific answer. As a key player in the MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Convention, Events) ecosystem, the International Congress and Convention Association is embarking on a...
Chicago in ObaMICE mode
In this film of the year 2026, in the travel and business tourism category, American presidents have a decided tendency to dominate the credits. Of course, it's hard to compete with Donald Trump for the headliner spot, given the growing number of projects designed to anchor the Trump identity - if that were needed - in the country's history and the everyday lives of...
MICE: Lyon maintains its position with GL events
Despite an international profile that grows stronger every year - 20 countries on five continents - GL events has not forgotten its roots: Lyon. A destination whose appeal the events giant continues to nurture, as confirmed by the results of the past year. By 2025, the group's four Lyon-based venues - Eurexpo Lyon,...
"A more open, more attractive and more sustainable site": Pierre...
A convention and exhibition centre in the city centre, just a few minutes by metro from the station, in a fast-growing destination - and next door to the Stade Vélodrome - the Parc Chanot has big ambitions for the MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Convention, Events) sector in France and far beyond. The arrival of a new...
Events in limbo due to political and geopolitical instability
On Monday evening, at the foot of the Triangle Tower in Hall 1 of Paris Expo, which is just completing its final floors, Unimev, the French Union of Event Professionals, presented its new year's greetings to its members on the sidelines of the bakery show, which has been renamed Sirha Bake & Snack since it was taken over in 2024 by the GL Events group....
