annes positions itself as the premier business tourism city in France , after Paris , and the city ’ s leading venue , Palais des Festivals et des Congrès , is clearly leading in the effort to reassure conference clients to return with its vigorous approach to health security .

The Palais des Festivals was the first European centre to achieve quadruple certification - ISO 9001 , ISO 14001 , OHS 18001 and ISO 26000 and has adapted all its spaces in accordance with health security rules .

The Palais des Festivals was also the subject of a Covid-19 Business-Ready audit carried out by the SOCOTEC group , a major player in testing and certification .

The Palais ’ s key measures included implementing a cleaning protocol , staff training and managing inflow and exit flows , as well as introducing a traffic plan on the site .

There has also been strict control of service providers and suppliers before entry on site and the venue team works closely with organisers to ensure all protective equipment is in place .

Jean-Michel Arnaud , president of the Palais des Festivals , said such an

Cannes has :

• Daily flights to 114 destinations

• 125 hotels and 7,841 rooms within 15 minutes of the Palais des Festivals

• 300 sunny days a year

• Made € 500m euros of recent investment in its hotels

• 70 years of experience with international events .

approach was “ essential ” to reassure visitors and restore trust . “ The health security audit illustrates our commitment to reassuring the public by placing health at the heart of our concerns .”

The Palais des Festivals has been a true driver of the local economy and its global influence is due in part to the durability of many of its historical events , such as the Cannes Film Festival , Cannes Lions , Cannes Yachting Festival , Heavent Meetings , ILTM , MAPIC , MIDEM , MIPCOM , MIPIM , MIPTV , Tax Free World Exhibition , the CANNESERIES International Series Festival - to name a few . The venue is able to host 40,000 people over 85,000sqm of space and in a normal year , it will host over 50 professional B2B events which generate € 855m in economic benefits and support 13,000 jobs on the French Riviera .

Heavant meetings Heavent Meetings was the first industry in person event held in France post-pandemic and drew 350 exhibitors , and 1,850 participants to the Palais des

Above : Croisette Cannes by Herve Fabre

Below : Régis Faure , tourism director , Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes

Festivals at the beginning of September . All safety measures ( one-way circulation path , seated meals , social distancing , mandatory facemasks , dispensers of alcohol-based hand rub , dedicated waste disposal system , audio / video reminders of protective measures , and more ) were respected .

Franck Riester , French minister delegate for foreign trade and economic attractiveness , gave a ringing endorsement of the event : “ Heavent Meetings opened its doors : this proves that tradeshows can be held when strict compliance with sanitary rules is respected , and thus contribute to the recovery of our economy .”

The face masks certainly could not hide the visitor enthusiasm : Eyes don ’ t lie and there was much happiness and gratitude on show , the organisers WeYou said . Rescheduling Heavent Meetings from March amid a changing situation in France , and liaising with the 15 countries concerned as exhibitors and buyers , was no mean undertaking for sure .

Régis Faure , tourism director , Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes told CMW : “ There are no problems organising conferences and events and people are happy to put the effort in to meet in a sanitary environment . It is travel that is the main issue for us , and that is down to government and companies to work out , of course .”

Faure explained the venue continued to liaise closely with organisers to secure back up dates for any postponements but believes the first quarter of 2021 will not see the return of large international events .

For now the strategy is banking on national events and the commercial team is booking into 2022 / 23 and beyond .