City report
Paris sheds more light
on the big events
aris is not only Europe’s
No.1 leisure tourism
destination (according to
Mastercard’s annual Global
Cities Index) - the City of Light also hosts
some 300 events every day.
Clearly Paris tourist attractions and the
city’s rich culture are also powerful
drivers for conference delegates.
And the French capital certainly knows
how to put on a show, with major events
including Fête de la Musique (Music Day),
the Nuit des Musées (Museums at Night),
Heritage Days, the Bastille Day fireworks
display on 14 July, Paris Plages, Nuit
Blanche and, of course, the New Year’s
Eve celebrations on the Champs-Élysées.
Paris is synonymous with all varieties
of prestigious exhibitions and venues
including the Musée du Louvre, the
Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Centre
Pompidou and the Musée d’Orsay.
Paris hosts a feast of food and
gastronomy festivals every year and there
are plenty of sporting events to add to the
glamour: the French Open tennis at
Roland-Garros and the Tour de France
cycle race. The 2023 Rugby World Cup
and the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic
Summer Games are also coming to Paris.
The AccorHotels Arena and the Parc des
Princes and the Paris La Défense Arena
are three important venues connected
with sport and concerts.
If culture and sport don’t float your
delegates’ boats, however, then early 2020
will see the renovation and reopening of
the Paris Sewer museum!
Tradeshows that transcend into
popular culture in Paris include the
International Agricultural Show
(February), Japan Expo (July), the Salon
du Chocolat (November), the Paris Air
Show at Le Bourget, (from 17 to 23 June),
innovation show Vivatech (May) and
Paris Design Week.
The opening of the Paris Convention
Centre in late 2017 significantly
contributed to Paris’s return to the
number one spot in the 2018 ICCA city
rankings.
The Centre has already hosted major
European and international conferences,
such as that of the European Respiratory
Society (ERS), which drew some 23,000
delegates.
The ESC cardiology congress was
another huge convention held in the
centre in 2019.
The Paris Convention Centre also
hosted the International Liver Conference,
with 10,000 attendees, as well as the
International Society for Magnetic
Resonance in Medicine, which drew a
record-breaking 7,000 visitors.
“The Paris Convention Centre has
hosted six conferences since it opened
eighteen months ago, and 23 more have
already been booked through 2023.
Starting in 2019, the Centre will welcome
the joint congresses of the European
Society of Cardiology and the World
Heart Federation, with an expected
35,000 attendees,” says Pablo Nakhlé
Cerruti, CEO, Viparis.
Another Viparis venue, the Palais des
Congrès de Paris, successfully hosted
LIVES, the 31st annual congress of the
European Society of Intensive Care
Medicine, with more than 6,500
participants, and the European Academy
of Dermatology and Venereology, with
13,000 participants. Attendance at these
two events was over 20% higher in Paris
than in previous editions.
Above:
Paris
Conven-
tion Centre:
Venue driver
for the Paris
ICCA
ranking
Icons
In 2019 the city celebrated the 350th
anniversary of the Paris Opera, the 130th
anniversary of the Eiffel Tower and the
Moulin Rouge, the 30th anniversary of
the Louvre Pyramid. All are part of the
rich background tapestry the city can
wrap around a big conference or event.
Viparis
Organiser and venue group Viparis runs
the Paris Convention Centre - the biggest
conference centre in Europe - at the Porte
de Versailles (the centre has 72,000sqm
and able to host up to 35,000 participants).
Left:
Paris: a
meetings
city of
night lights
ISSUE 104
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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