France Meetings

Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, which embarked on a ten-year project in 2013 to present itself in all its splendour on the eve of its centenary in 2023, has just completed a project to open up to the city as well as to the latest trends, be they roof terraces, an urban farm or architectural gestures...

Birds squabbling in the branches, an early-morning breeze, a few blades of grass caught between the pages of a corporate presentation, and your mind starts to wander... All of a sudden, these creative, designer seminar rooms, as they are done today in hotels in the...

Saint-Malo is determined to make a name for itself on the French MICE scene, with the aim of attracting no fewer than 100,000 participants by the end of next year. With this in mind, the Palais des Congrès is undergoing an ambitious renovation programme. Completely revamped and enlarged, 'Le Grand Large' now boasts a new Rotonde...

Last year you inaugurated Hall 7 at Eurexpo Lyon. What are the advantages of this new venue? Anne-Marie Baezner - Designed by AIA Architectures, Hall 7 is linked to Hall 6 by two footbridges. This means that the two halls can be linked up to make it easier for visitors to get around the large exhibition areas...

A few weeks after inaugurating its new Liège-Saint Lazare space, Châteauform' has just added another original touch. The second phase, which has just been completed, adds five "Ateliers", 50m² work spaces that can be made private, with meeting rooms and a kitchen area. Each of the five workshops can accommodate up to 16...

Saint-Etienne is demonstrating its ambitions in the exhibition and congress segment with a vast modernisation project costing almost €30 million. Managed by GL Events, the Parc Expo will see the reconstruction of Hall A (8,000 m²), the renovation of Hall B (6,600 m²), the fitting out of five new meeting rooms, the...

The news came down on 10 July: five years after its creation, BizMeeting has been acquired by its competitor Privateaser. "I had the feeling that BizMeeting had reached a key moment in its history," says Loïc Passemard, founder of BizMeeting and its new BtoB Vice-President. "In just a few years, we have built up a...

Marseille's image has improved enormously... Maxime Tissot - Yes, it has. This has been very clear since Marseille was named European Capital of Culture in 2013. That, and the opening of the Mucem, have enabled us to enhance the offer from the various museums...

With investment totalling €620 million across Europe - including €110 million in France alone - Center Parcs is looking to the future with ambition. In addition to the €41 million renovation of the historic Bois-Francs site, which began in 2017, new parks are being added to the network. The Allgäu site, for example, has...

And that's three! Following on from Kwerk Haussmann and Kwerk Bienfaisance, the Wellworking specialist will once again be targeting the 8th arrondissement of Paris with the inauguration of a new site on rue de Courcelles. Kwerk Saint-Honoré is due to open its doors in May 2020. This fifth space will bring Kwerk's total surface area to over...

With four floors, 2,500 m², twelve meeting rooms and four dining rooms - all enhanced by an 80 m² terrace - the new Châteauform' address is well equipped to welcome its first visitors near the Saint Ouen Flea Market, with a capacity of 150 participants in afterwork format. This eighth Châteauform'...

"They share experiences and unforgettable memories. No pollution, no cars; the calm, the cold and the winter sun... All this means that the participants are really relaxed," says Fanny Dunand, MICE sales manager for Hôtels d'en haut, a group which runs four establishments at altitude: the Alpaga in Megève, the...

What's the latest on the metamorphosis of the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre? The programme is proceeding according to schedule. Begun in 2015, the renovation work is scheduled for completion in 2023. After the opening last year of the Paris Convention Centre - the largest in Europe - which marked the end of the...

Last April saw the opening of the Paris-Saclay Convention Centre. Why did you choose this location? Erwan Jouët - It's the first in Essonne! It's ideally located, at the heart of the Paris Saclay Massy economic hub. It's a fast-growing new district designed by Elizabeth de Portzamparc and Christian de Portzamparc, and the...

What are the major trends in the market? Béatrice Cuif-Mathieu - With changes in consumer behaviour, the market has had to adapt. Formats are becoming shorter and shorter, and participants expect a maximum amount of information as well as an experiential dimension. Quality is taking over from quantity. After ROI, return on investment,...

Coach Omnium, a research and consultancy company specialising in business tourism, lists nearly 200 establishments in France that can host major professional events, including 120 convention centres, 60 exhibition centres and around 20 multimodal establishments. This density of supply makes France one of the world's leading players in the MICE market....

How did the idea for a new convention centre in Metz come about? Michel Coqué - As soon as the Centre Pompidou was created, Metz wanted a convention centre next door, rather like the one in Bilbao. As a result, the Robert Schuman Centre is strategically located, just opposite the...

With 30 events expected in 2018, 80 in the pipeline for 2019 and two signed for 2020, Metz's new convention centre is already a busy place as it opens its doors on 7 September. Designed by the Wilmotte & Associés agency, Metz Congrès Robert Schuman offers, within its...

COP 21, the climate conference held in Paris in 2015, set the goal of limiting global warming to below 2°C. Which, at the moment, is apparently not a foregone conclusion! The fact remains that we need to change our lifestyles as a matter of urgency, and we understand that the...

What are the strengths of the new Paris-Saclay Convention Centre? Our offer is organised around three pillars: modularity - that's what companies are looking for today; modernity, since we're located in the heart of a district designed by Christian de Portzamparc; and finally, the environment, a commitment that is materialised by...