Conference & Meetings World Issue 105 | Page 37

France
France’s big attractions
WE LOOK AT TWO OF FRANCE’S BIG EVENTS ATTRACTIONS THAT ARE
NOT ONLY TOP RANKING EUROPEAN LEISURE DESTINATIONS BUT HAVE ALSO CARVED OUT
LEADING POSITIONS FOR BUSINESS FOR MEETINGS AND EVENTS
Disneyland Paris
naugurated on 12 April,
1992, Disneyland® Paris
today claims to have become
not only the top tourist
destination in Europe, but also the
continent’s top integrated business
tourism site.
With two theme parks, eight hotels and
resorts and a range of attractions, shops
and restaurants, Disneyland Paris is a
unique experience for leisure or business.
Located 32km east of Paris, the
destination is also France’s main TGV
hub..
Disneyland Paris is leveraging its
hotels and venue space for conferencing,
with plenty of on site teambuilding
activities and emotional assets, including
the Disney quality of service and art of
storytelling, all within themed areas.
The most common events hosted at the
venue are large corporate conventions,
which can draw on the 5,800-room hotel
capacity. Two of the hotels have their own
convention centres: Disney’s Hotel New
York – The Art of Marvel, which is
currently being fully refurbished and
offers 561 rooms, and Disney’s Newport
Bay Club, with 1,093 rooms.
The first can be fully privatised for a
business client, while the second is
convenient for larger groups who wish to
accommodate all participants in the same
hotel, where all major activities take place.
Disneyland Paris employs 200
dedicated event professionals and Gustavo
Branger, Vice-President, Disneyland Paris
Event Group, points to the draw of the
live event special experience. “The
combined power of great storytelling with
the strong immersiveness generated by
the live aspect of the event, produces an
incredible emotional connection with the
guests, creating memories that last a
lifetime.
“Disneyland® Paris Event Group is the
new division in charge of imagining,
organising and hosting events, building
on a growing professional events stream
over 26 years.
“The group has also created successful
proprietary events such as Disneyland®
Paris Run Weekend and Electroland,
positioning Disneyland® Paris as both a
major event venue and producer.”
The group has two brands: Business
Solutions by Disneyland® Paris,
dedicated to business tourism and
professional events, and Live Events by
Disneyland® Paris, which is new and:
connects Disney stories and seasons with
audiences’ passions, like music, sport or
e-sport through major events.”
That is the structure today, but a trip
back through history sees the creation of
the Convention Service division in1991
when just 10 staff worked on hosting
various professional events.
In 1992 the first Disneyland® Paris
event space was inaugurated, with
Disney’s Hotel New York® Convention
Centre following in 1994, along with the
creation of the Convention Entertainment
division.
In 1997 a second convention centre at
Disney’s Newport Bay Club® was added
and, two years later, the Dome Disney
Village® was created to house the
Crescend’O show. It would later host
shows, exhibitions, meetings and dinners.
2000 saw Business Solutions
Disneyland Paris formed, a large entity
gathering the 50 event professionals from
the two Convention teams.
Fast forward to 2010 and the creation
of Disney® Events Arena, brought a new
space for large-scale professional and
sporting events.
Then some playing with the words in
2016, with the marketers turning
Business Solutions Disneyland Paris into
Disney Business Solutions and pushing
the strapline: ‘Turn events into emotion’.
From 2019, the on-brand moniker is
Disneyland Paris Event Group, which
now unites a team of 200 professionals
and two brands dedicated to different
event markets.
Above: Takeovers
are possible, as
are inclusive use of
the theme parks in
Disneyland Paris’s
Business Solutions
packages
Photos by
©Disney
Left: Business
Solutions with a
little bit of Disney
magic
Photos by
©Disney
ISSUE 105
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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37