Paris, one of the centres of European style, cuisine and history is internationally renowned for its insight on what is in vogue. But beyond the montage of dreamy views and chic inhabitants lies a city not afraid to evolve in tandem with its often luxurious surroundings.
Recent internationally successful films as varied as Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris and Leos Carax’s Holy Motors have shown the two sides of the city, the former a retrospective tribute to its artistic pedigree, the latter an ultra-modern dose of surreal magic swirling among the boulevards.
Both are stylish and effortlessly Parisian in their very different ways, from an international and domestic perspective of the city.
So it is in keeping with its central role in matters of culture and commerce that the French capital can also lay claim to a central role in the continent’s exhibition industry.
With more than 600,000sqm of exhibition area, it also has arguably the largest amount of space in Europe, ahead of cities like Hanover, Milan, Frankfurt and Barcelona.
“Every year, Paris hosts in excess of 400 public and trade shows, welcoming 10 million visitors and 100,000 exhibitors,” says Corinne Laroche, chief executive officer of Promosalons, a body that promotes French trade shows internationally.
“For about 300 days of the year there are on average between five and 15 different trade shows taking place at the same time.”
The French capital came second in the latest ratings from The International Conference and Convention Associations for MICE business destinations, behind only Vienna in the international association meetings and events marketplace.
Paris has a wide range of leading trade shows. These include Batimat and Intermat for the construction industry, Pollutec Paris for the environment, Equip Hotel for the hotel and restaurant sector and Premiere Vision for textiles.
Top consumer shows include the Paris Air Show organised by Salon International de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace, which takes place at Le Bourget Paris Exhibition and attracts more than 2,100 exhibitors and 350,000 trade and public visitors, Foire de Paris for the home, gift and leisure market, and Mondial de l’automobile for the car industry.
“In general, the areas of fashion and textiles are doing well, as are kitchen and food, multimedia entertainment, sports and manga,” says Viparis deputy general manager Marina Jestin.
Paris is an unusual case study for the exhibition world as Viparis, which represents 10 of the largest Paris venues and the Comexposium group, organiser of five of the top 10 exhibitions in France are part of the same company.
Both Viparis and Comexposium are jointly owned by commercial property company Unibail-Rodamco and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP). Viparis is operated by Unibail-Rodamco, and manages a portfolio of 10 leading venues in Paris and the surrounding area. The three largest are Paris Nord Villepinte at 246,000sqm, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles at 228,000sqm, and Paris Bourget at 80,000sqm. Another 35,500sqm hall was opened in September 2010 in Paris Nord Villepinte, Hall and the venue has plans to extend its halls to 350,000sqm.
The other main Viparis sites are Palais des Congrès de Paris, CNIT Paris La Défense, Champerret, Carrousel du Louvre, Espace Grande Arche, Palais des Congrès de Versailles, and Palais des Congrès in Issy.
Viparis therefore represents an area of about 630,000sqm of exhibition space and more than 480,000sqm of outdoor exhibition space, or 90 per cent of the French capital’s space.
Comexposium is operated by CCIP and each year manages more than 150 events, attracting 35,000 exhibitors and 3.7 million visitors.
Paris can approach the international exhibition market with confidence in contrast to its high-powered European neighbours. Barcelona is feeling the after-effects of Spain’s financial woes, while key German venues such as Frankfurt and Hanover arguably have less of the playful panache present in the French capital.
Comexposium and Viparis CEO Renaud Hamaide was recently announced as the next president of global exhibition industry association UFI, following Chen Xianjin.
According to Hamaide, exhibitors are continuing to invest in the French capital. Research from Foires Salons Congrès et Evénements de France, which oversees trade shows, exhibitions, congresses, venues and congress centres in France, advertiser spending for exhibitions and shows increased by 2.9 per cent in 2011, to €1.5bn (US$1.96bn).
“For example, JEC Europe, the composites industry exhibition at Porte de Versailles, continued its progress with nearly 1,200 participating companies in a record 50,000sqm area,” comments Hamaide. “Attendance at the 2012 exhibition continued to increase with 32,200 visitors, compared with 29,800 in 2011.”
Hamaide says 2013 will also be a busy year with Batimat, Interclima+Elec and Idéo Bain all hosted at the same time at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, between 4 and 8 November 2013. More than 3,000 exhibitors and 400,000 professional visitors are expected.
The Paris Expo Porte de Versailles exhibition centre has launched a new exhibitor e-Parking service to simplify exhibitor access. The initiative works by allowing exhibitors to order and pay simply for their parking spaces on EPEX, the exhibitor e-commerce site of Paris promotion company Viparis. They then receive an email telling them their parking space order is available in their personal area. A PDF file with a unique barcode is generated for each space. Exhibitors can then print out the barcode or upload the PDF onto their smartphone, which gives them access throughout the exhibition. The scheme has already been piloted at shows including Discom-Mixmove and Body Fitness Form Expo at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.
“As a leading congress and exhibition venue operator, Viparis constantly works on the improvement of the quality of visitors’ and exhibitors’ passage through our sites, from the preparation of their visit in their homes, which is a priority,” says Hamaide.
Other ongoing projects include work at the Porte de Versailles venue, where new space is being created for VIP events and should be ready by autumn 2013. In October, Porte de Versailles showcased a new event space, Electric, which offers a panoramic view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower and can host events of up to 1,200 people.
For the international business traveller, Paris is an easy sell, but its cultural sights should only act as an aperitif to its expansion ambitions for its global exhibiton business.
This was first published in Issue 4/2012 of Exhibition World. Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
