{"id":220947,"date":"2026-04-27T09:37:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T07:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=220947"},"modified":"2026-04-27T09:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T07:48:06","slug":"interview-guillaume-decard-var-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/interview-guillaume-decard-var-tourism","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Guillaume Decard, President of Var Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-avec-quel-message-etes-vous-venu-a-paris-que-voudriez-vous-que-les-participants-retiennent-du-var-en-matiere-de-tourisme-d-affaires\">What message have you come to Paris with? What would you like participants to take away from the Var in terms of business tourism?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013 <\/strong>We're on an additional offering, business tourism, compared to what we can offer in the <strong>Var <\/strong>...agritourism, outdoor activities, open-air tourism... So it's a type of business tourism that we need to value and promote. The aim is also to showcase the gems we have in the department that are currently able to host business tourism. Because as we know, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/mice-coach-market-trends\/\">Business tourism has been somewhat reshaped<\/a> Since the health crisis, expectations are now much more authentic, with a desire for closeness too, which we didn't have before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-varenne-quote\"><blockquote><p>I'm not going to say it's a holiday, but it's still a break where you can recharge your batteries, find yourself again, all while working. The Var has these advantages.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/aside>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-des-etudes-montrent-que-les-voyageurs-mice-sont-prets-a-aller-plus-loin-et-que-cela-profite-notamment-a-nice-est-ce-que-c-est-aussi-le-cas-pour-le-var\">Studies show that MICE travellers are willing to go further, which particularly benefits Nice. Is this also the case for the Var?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013<\/strong> This is the case, because it allows for a break, a real cut. And who isn't happy to go on a seminar out of their region, particularly to a destination like the <strong>Var <\/strong>The sun is out, the sea is there, the scenery is remarkable. I'm not going to say it's a holiday, but it's still a break where you can recharge, reconnect, all while working. The Var has these advantages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-avez-vous-l-ambition-de-rivaliser-avec-les-alpes-maritimes-ou-les-bouches-du-rhone\">Do you have the ambition to compete with the Alpes-Maritimes or the Bouches-du-Rh\u00f4ne?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013<\/strong> No, we do not have the capabilities or structures to do so. But we are complementary. The two large hubs remain Toulon Provence M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e and Est\u00e9rel C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur with Saint-Rapha\u00ebl. There are no major convention centres in the Var today, and there are no plans for venues to host large seminars in the coming years. I believe we must maintain this complementarity. Even if it is a niche, it must be modern, and the services and structures must remain up to the standard of the people we welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-cela-vous-positionne-de-fait-plutot-sur-du-haut-de-gamme\">This effectively places you at the higher end of the market...<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013<\/strong> Given that vineyards host many seminars and that there's an observed improvement in the quality of hospitality, it's true that holding a seminar in the Var comes with a budget. The strategy is to maintain this positioning. To give you an example, we have 81 million overnight stays per year in the Var, of which 10 million stem from MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-est-ce-que-vous-arrivez-a-lisser-cette-activite-sur-l-annee\">Can you smooth out this activity over the year?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013<\/strong> This is the whole challenge today: to work on year-round tourism, a \"Var of the four seasons\". To enhance attractiveness, encourage professionals to have higher occupancy rates, more extensive opening hours. Campsites are making efforts, as are outdoor activity providers. And then, the goal is also to encourage participants to return on a personal level. If they feel good, find activities, and discover the destination during their seminar, we hope to get them to return with their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ne-manque-t-il-pas-une-tete-d-affiche-comme-toulon-par-exemple-pour-ancrer-l-offre-mice\">Isn't there a headliner missing, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/toulon-destination-teletravail\/\">Toulon <\/a>for example, to anchor the MICE offering?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013<\/strong> To be a headline act, you need a six or seven-year project. And that's not our responsibility: it depends on the willingness of the region. We don't turn anyone away. The more of us there are, the better we do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-varenne-link-block\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/the-harbour-of-the-future-toulon\/\" data-id=\"112191\">The harbour of the future is being built in Toulon<\/a><\/p><\/aside>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-quelle-est-la-valeur-economique-reelle-du-mice-pour-le-var\">What is the real economic value of MICE for the Var?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013 <\/strong>A visitor on a business tourism trip spends an average of 84 to 94 euros per day, compared to 66 euros for a standard tourist. And approximately 920 million euros are injected into the department's economy thanks to business tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-y-a-t-il-une-vraie-strategie-de-developpement-mice-avec-par-exemple-un-convention-bureau-dedie\">Is there a real MICE development strategy, with, for example, a dedicated convention bureau?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013<\/strong> Last October, we created the Club Le Var \u00e0 Paris, to generate business and maintain a network between Paris and the Var. Many Varois have ties to Paris. The objective is to create a bridge and say: come, visit the Var.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-les-sept-nouveaux-etablissements-4-et-5-etoiles-presentes-debut-avril-envoient-un-signal-fort-a-la-clientele-mice\">The seven new 4 and 5-star establishments unveiled at the start of April send a strong signal to the MICE client base\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guillaume Decard \u2013<\/strong> This shows above all that the Var is in good health. This is the case, as it remains the most attractive department in the region, including in terms of population. And we can see that the supply of establishments is increasing, especially in qualitative terms. We are catching up on the four and five-star segment. There will be future issues with the three-star segment, but the high-end segment is really picking up speed in the Var.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the sidelines of the press conference held in Paris in early April, Guillaume Decard, President of Var Tourisme and Vice-President of the Departmental Council of Var, discussed the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) strengths of the Var destination. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":221931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,143],"tags":[1019,1229,1469,1643,2297],"type-darticle":[],"n_magazine":[],"class_list":["post-220947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meetings-et-evenements","category-interviews","tag-france","tag-mice","tag-oenotourisme","tag-seminaires","tag-france-meetings","vapo-free"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Interview : Guillaume Decard, Pr\u00e9sident de Var Tourisme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Guillaume Decard, Pr\u00e9sident de Var Tourisme et Vice-Pr\u00e9sident du Conseil D\u00e9partemental du Var revient sur les atouts du MICE de la destination 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