seminars

The capital's biggest club, with a Jean Bouin stadium refurbished just ten years ago under the leadership of Rudy Ricciotti, in a prestigious and strategic geographical area: on paper, Stade Français Paris has solid arguments to play the leading roles on the pitch...

A rugby pass: to coincide with the France-Wales match in March, the Société Générale group staged a theatrical handover between Frédéric Oudéa and Slawomir Krupa, the new head of the Paris-based bank. It was a publicity stunt that drew on the strong links between the...

A taste for others. Against its better judgement, the pandemic had the politeness to demonstrate a human need, a very human need: the need to meet others. The strong upturn in business seminars as soon as the restrictions were lifted could only attest to this. A desire to exchange ideas and enjoy conviviality, where the table obviously plays an eminent role. In this...

What is the new sales organisation of the Accor group, which is now split into two divisions, one covering economy, mid-range and premium hotels and the other luxury and lifestyle segments? Sophie Hulgard - First of all, our sales department is one of the only ones to have a scope that covers all of the Accor Group's...

Do the findings of the latest MPI barometer seem to you to be in line with the trends you are seeing in the French market? Véronique Holveck - The MPI barometer, the "Meetings Outlook", is consolidated on a quarterly basis among our active members who are MICE planners - including professional congress organisers (PCOs) -...

Marguerite de Valois - the famous Queen Margot, made famous as much by history and her marriage to Henri IV as by being played by Isabelle Adjani - took refuge here to escape the plague raging in Paris. Situated in the hills above Issy-les-Moulineaux, the site was long used as a monastery, housing a convent for centuries...

The Burdigala, long Bordeaux's leading upmarket hotel, is getting ready to regain its status. Closed since October 2021 to embark on a renovation programme, the hotel is set to reopen in early September. Redesigned by interior architect Fabien Roque, the hotel will oscillate between luxury and lifestyle. With a boutique feel too...

The recent Formula 1 British Grand Prix gave the Hilton Group the opportunity to officially inaugurate its new Hilton Garden Inn, the only establishment located on the Silverstone circuit. The hotel boasts an unrivalled position along the 'Hamilton Straight', renamed in 2020 in honour of the British champion. The hotel groups...

With brands such as Pullman and Fairmont designed for major corporate meetings, and others such as MGallery more suited to smaller seminars, and some such as Sofitel for 'hand-crafted' MICE, the Accor group's range of brands opens up a wide range of possibilities for event organisers. The Global Meeting Exchange event, organised this year at the...

Following last year's inauguration of Station Cosmos, a 4-star hotel with 76 rooms on the theme of space, this week Futuroscope is opening Ecolodgee. This unclassified but 3* establishment of 120 ultra-cosy wooden lodges - but without air conditioning or TV! - It required the creation of a landscaped park, islands...

Nearly three months after work was completed, the new MICE facilities at the Village Club du Soleil were unveiled in mid-June. The operator, which was founded in Marseille in the early 1960s, has invested to give a new dimension to the corporate side of its Phocaean site. It will have cost some 350,000...

Employees scattered like jigsaw puzzles, management split up, teams struggling to find each other: the changing world of work, accelerated by the pandemic, is turning companies' habits upside down. In some cases, companies have simply abandoned the idea of having offices and switched to full remote working. This is nothing new, but this...

Put on hold for the past four years, the Coach Omnium study of the French MICE market is back in action, as is the activity itself. A "resurrection", as Marc Watkins, the firm's founder, describes it, made possible by a new partnership with the 1001 Salles Group. As industry experts have discovered...

After Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille, InterContinental will soon have a new flagship hotel in France, in Chantilly. IHG has been entrusted with the management of the Château Mont Royal, recently acquired by the BMF and PFH groups. The hotel will be undergoing a phase of renovation before joining the InterContinental brand next year.

Belambra is providing further proof of the sustained growth of the MICE sector in France. The French leader in holiday clubs will be dedicating four of its sites entirely to business customers during the peak seminar season. In May and June on the one hand, and in September-October on the other, the clubs at Anglet, La Grande Motte,...

At a time when the number of meetings and events is rising sharply, Hyatt is giving organisers a new way to discover its hotels' MICE offering. The American group has announced the launch of an interactive online platform to enhance its Together by Hyatt programme. This unique site brings together the full range of offers available from its...

Pioneering destinations in terms of eco-responsibility, recognised for their excellence in design and architecture, fashionable gastronomy, dynamic cities on a human scale: the Nordic countries have many assets in common to seduce event and incentive organisers. Without necessarily making them a key focus...

Melia International has its sights set on Portugal, and Lisbon in particular. A virtual neighbour, the Spanish hotelier has nine hotels in the country, as well as seven under development. Of these, two are due to open in the Portuguese capital next year: a contemporary hotel for its mid-range Innside brand and, above all, a new hotel for its...

Châteauform' is reaffirming its humanist and committed nature by officially becoming a "mission-driven company". Established in 2019 by the PACTE law (Plan d'Action pour la Croissance et la Transformation des Entreprises), this status recognises a company's social and environmental mission, a "raison d'être" engraved in the marble of its organisation. The European leader in...

The long-awaited possibility of easily organising small meetings online is no longer so far away. The Radisson group has recently enhanced its meetings offering with the launch of a real-time booking platform. Called Book it easy, this solution is designed to simplify the lives of organisers by offering them a fast and simple process...