Prosperity in the provinces

France’s trade fair cities will not be held back by Parisian predominance. On the contrary, Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseilles are expanding as they benefit from attractive sites and lure matching specialized tradeshows to fill them.

Lyon, the grande nation's second largest city with some 1.1 million inhabitants in the greater Lyon area, was long sparing with its charms. Lyon is perfect for meetings and incentives.
Very diverse meetings and conference facilities rub shoulders in Lyon, and with Eurexpo the city can also boast an aspiring exhibition site outside the downtown precincts. Near the city centre the Palais des Congrès is growing. Already it hosts more than 350 events a year, and conference planners can look forward this May to an additional facility in the shape of the "Salle 3000". The amphitheatre-like building on the banks of the Rhône can accommodate up to 3,000 guests - something that the Convention Bureau claims is quite unique throughout Europe. The spectacular new building complements the existing halls for 900 and 300 people respectively. All in all this will bring the Lyon centre up to a total area of roughly 267,000 m2 (previously 87,900 m2) and expand its conference capacities from 6,500 to 19,000 guests. The exhibition area is likewise undergoing massive expansion, from approx. 32,000 m2 to more than 58,000 m2. Also on offer when the construction work is complete will be a total of 26 meeting rooms with varying floorplates, a new underground car park with another 1,200 parking lots and a new three-star, 169-room hotel. Like the 201-room, four-star Hilton, it is linked directly to the Palais des Congrès. Another three-star apartment hotel, shops and restaurants round off the ambitious Cité International project.
Moving outside the downtown area, exhibition and conference guests will find the Eurexpo site just outside the Renaissance city's walls. Its operators reported bumper figures in the last fiscal year. With sales in 2005 of roughly EUR 53 million on 45 events, the exhibition venue generated net profit in the region of EUR 12 million - a leap in sales of 17 % and a 40 % surge in profits versus the comparable exhibition year 2002/2003. 16,700 exhibitors showcased their products and innovations to some 1.4 million visitors. Good news for the French: the proportion of international guests has climbed slowly but surely in recent years to around 50,000, due in no small measure to the increasing internationality of shows like Lyon Mode City, Pollutec or Piscine. Key to these good results is the addition of another 12,000 m2 to Eurexpo. As a clear-span event hall, the new Hall 66 is intended to attract new high-end sporting events to the city and lend the exhibition centre fresh impetus 20 years on from its establishment.
Following construction of the new Hall 3 in the Bordeaux Lac Exhibition Centre, the French trade fair and exhibition company Congrès et Expositions de Bordeaux (CEB) now offers its national and international exhibitors more than 100,000 m2 hall space. Shortly after completion, the EUR 27 million project had its baptism of fire with Vinexpo, the world's biggest wine fair held every two years in the Aquitaine metropolis. With the new building, another 8,500-m2 open hall and the conference centre opened two years ago in immediate proximity to the exhibition centre featuring a total area of 10,500 m2 and seating capacity of 1,360, the French see themselves well equipped for the future. With the new building the exhibition company in Bordeaux can now also boast clear-span exhibition space of 12,000 m2, opening up entirely new vistas for potential exhibitors.Last year Bordeaux hosted a total of 309 trade fairs and events with almost 8,000 exhibitors, drawing more than a million visitors and professional attendees to the city. After Paris and Lyon, Bordeaux is the third largest exhibition centre in France, even though it ranks only sixth in terms of its population. The exhibition company and municipal authorities calculate total turnover of EUR 150 million for the regional economy from the expo company's activities last year and EUR 450 million for the exhibitors.
Growth is on the agenda. With the venue extension it is hoped to tap into new national and international markets, with international strategy covering sectors in which the region is traditionally strong. In addition to wine - of course - these include the wood and paper industry, cardboard and fuels.
Marseilles and the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region is home to many outstanding activity centres working in extremely diverse economic sectors such as chemistry and crude oil refineries; the region is very proud to have been chosen by quite a large number of industry leaders who have decided to settle here: we have for instance the first microelectronics pole in France, the agri-food industry leader for the South of France region, the French leader in multimodal transport systems, one of the leaders in the field of oceanic engineering as well as 25 telecommunication service operators and 60 call centres.
The SAFIM is one of the major economic players in the Phocean city. The company manages the Exhibition Park and the Conference Centre of Marseilles, the Parc Chanot and it also specializes in organizing all types of events. Throughout its 80 years of existence, it has created and hosted large-scale events of international reputation, such as the Foire Internationale de Marseille (International Fair of Marseilles) which, every year, welcomes some 360 000 visitors from 45 countries, and the Salon Nautique (Boat Show) with around 650 boats on land and in water, and the Salon Piscine et Jardin (Pool and Garden Show) for the second time a few weeks ago. The number of Visitors increased from 16 000 in 2005 to 24 000 this year. The Parc Chanot staff can assist in the implementation of market surveys for organizers wishing to create an event. Establishing cooperation links or partnerships between various organisers is one of their fortes. Today, they have decided to contact international decision makers, organizers and agency managers in order to present the outstanding opportunities offered by Marseilles and the Parc Chanot - 17 hectares located in the very heart of the city centre and offering the ideal setting for the Palais des Congrès (Conference Centre) and its auditorium with a seating capacity of 1205, the Parc des Expositions (Exhibition Park) with its 44 000 m2 of covered area divided into 5 modular halls, 42 000 m2 of esplanades and parking space for 1880 cars.

m+a report Nr.2 / 2006 vom 24.03.2006
m+a report vom 24. März 2006