France Meetings

In the wake of the health crisis, Châteauform' is stepping up its virtual events activities. The specialist in organising seminars, events and other corporate training courses has just inaugurated three new infrastructures in quick succession. The aim is to help companies maintain their event activities despite the constraints imposed by the pandemic. In fact, as the people in charge of...

Text Serge Barret / Photos Alain Parinet First there's the Mediterranean. Blue, as it should be; with, most of the time, a sky to match, whether very early or very late in the season. As a result, in Corsica there are long white sandy beaches as well as secluded coves,...

With the way people relate to the office having changed profoundly in recent months, the time has come to reorganise the market. Bird Office is taking the lead by shifting the focus to the teleworking segment. Not home working, the 'home office' that so many employees have been willy-nilly experimenting with during the...

It's not just in the big cities that the coliving-coworking mix is making inroads. The trend, which is being explored by the Ascott group through its Lyf brand and by other long-stay players such as Zoku and Adagio, is also taking shape in Deauville, with the opening of the first You Urban Hospitality hotel on...

At a time when the events industry is being dramatically affected by cancellations and postponements, Bordeaux is determined to support the MICE market and save what can still be saved. We're working on an operation to encourage companies in New Aquitaine to keep their meetings scheduled until the end of the year," explains Amélie...

Updated 16 October It's probably not a good time for major projects. And yet Futuroscope has just unveiled a vast development plan with the ambition of creating a real resort covering more than 22 hectares, and with an environmental focus to boot. Supported by all the partners - Compagnie des Alpes, the...

Then, all of a sudden, nothing. "Our hotel, which opened in June 2019, was running at 500 km an hour, and then we had to abruptly cease our activity", sums up Madelijn Vervoord, general manager of the InterContinental Lyon-Hôtel-Dieu. With the announcement of the lockdown, the Académie, the hotel's convention centre which used to host 100 to 120 events a month, was forced to...

Is Le Puy du Fou a new player in major professional events? Certainly not, since the venue already hosts almost 200 events a year. "We intend to double this figure in the future," says Thomas Guitet, director of Puy du Fou Congrès. Because, with the opening of a real convention centre, the theme park launched in 1978 by...

Toulouse is home to a new convention centre, MEETT, with 95,000 m² of modular space suitable for events of all sizes. Since September 3, the MEETT exhibition and convention centre has welcomed its first visitors and exhibitors for the Motorhome Show and the Vivre Nature Show, in Toulouse.

At a time when the events sector is awaiting a recovery, one of France's leading venues for professional events, the Palais des festivals et des congrès de Cannes, has announced that it has been awarded health and safety accreditation. The venue has undergone a "Covid 19 Business Ready" audit carried out by the Socotec group, one of France's leading...

Barely open, already closed. A few months after its inauguration in June 2019, the InterContinental Lyon - Hôtel-Dieu was forced to suspend its activities due to a pandemic. We were going at 500 an hour and had to come to an abrupt halt," says Madelijn Vervoord, the hotel's general manager. The evening we were told we had to close...

Has the upturn in business lived up to your expectations? Gérald Coutaudier - I'm pleasantly surprised. Especially as we were quite worried after 11 May. We thought the phone would start ringing again from that date. But no, nothing until 29 May and the announcement of the phase...

After having had to close its 70 houses in 6 European countries, starting in France in mid-March, Châteauform is gradually relaunching its events and training activities. More than forty residences are already in operation. To reassure companies, the group has sought the advice of Socotec to develop a charter for the...

Chateauform is reviewing the sanitary aspects of its offer in order to ensure a safe return to business. "Safety and hygiene are an integral part of our obligations, and COVID-19 has led us to adapt and strengthen our protocols to offer our customers even greater pleasure and safety", said Gérald Coutaudier, CEO of Chateauform.

You took part in the GBTA France webinar on Thursday: what was the mood among the other players in the market? Arnaud Katz - The reality is that everyone wants and needs to get things moving again. So there was a lot of energy. Everyone wanted to move on a bit...

In these particularly difficult times for the tourism and events sectors, let's start with some good news. Paris has retained its top spot in the ICCA rankings, with 237 revolving congresses hosted in 2019. Pablo Nakhle Cerruti - We're obviously very pleased that Paris is at the top of this ranking. It's worth noting...

13,254 meetings of rotating associations worldwide last year. This record figure recorded by the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) is not about to be equalled, at least not in 2020. With a further 317 events recorded in 2019, the number has never been so high, following a particularly prolific 2018....

Like other tourism sectors, including the airline and hotel industries, the events industry is preparing for the upturn by taking into account health and safety issues, which are a priority for employees, event organisers, exhibitors, service providers and visitors alike. With this in mind, Viparis has joined forces with Bureau Veritas to define a set of standards aimed at...

According to Coach Omnium, there were no fewer than 118 convention centres in operation in France in 2018, with a further fifteen or so scheduled to open between now and 2025. This highly varied offering is scattered across the country, with centres of concentration varying in strength from region to region. Unsurprisingly, the Île-de-France region is...

52 million euros: this is the record amount of investment planned by the Puy du Fou for 2020. This financial windfall is aimed in particular at attracting corporate customers, by equipping itself with new ad hoc infrastructures. For example, a convention centre will be built on the Vendée site. Called the Théâtre Molière,...