Rhône-Alpes, conference territory

Laurent Cormier, Tourism Product Manager at Rhône-Alpes Tourisme, gave an update on the state of the region's strengths and weaknesses in the business tourism market.

First of all he defined the tourism offer by pointing out that there is a marked downturn in large meetings in favour of much smaller events, many of which come directly from companies.

The Rhône-Alpes, with its 28 conference centres, is ranked 3rd amongst French regional destinations for business tourism after Île-de-France and PACA, with an estimated turnover of 800 million euros. Lyon is just behind Paris for its facilities and exhibition space and counts the Cité Internationale conference centre, Eurexpo, the Halle Tony Garnier and the Espace Tête d'Or amongst its assets. The Centre de Congrès alone hosts 100,000 participants each year which, together with trade shows, contributes about 300,000 bed nights.

Grenoble depends on the Alpexpo and Europôle to achieve success in the business tourism market whilst Annecy has four specialist conference facilities on the shores of the lake, in particular the Impérial Palace and Centre Bonlieu. Saint-Étienne offers a conference centre averaging about 75,000 participant days every year and Chambéry's Manège handles about 10 conferences a year, 20% of which are international. Last but not least, Valence has noted an increase in the number of meetings and study days but a drop in the number of larger conferences, dealing with 29 files in 2005 which resulted in a turnover of 211,000 euros after tax.

In order to continue developing its business tourism the Rhône-Alpes is dependent on its 145,000 hotel beds and its excellent transport links with Paris, Brussels and London (three of the main consumers of business tourism meetings).

In addition to its city-based business tourism options, the Rhône-Alpes is also blessed with the advantage of being able to offer meetings and incentives in ski resorts, in particular Chamonix, Val-d'Isère, Courchevel, Megève and Les Arcs.

Still focusing on the region's assets, Laurent Cormier highlighted the hard work undertaken by Lyon with its new 3000 hall and the extension to Eurexpo (Espace Alto, new Hall 66 and future expansion by 16,000 m² planned for 2007) as well as by Saint-Étienne which extended its conference centre last year.

However, there are also a number of weaknesses: Laurent Cormier pointed out that the number of hotel beds is not increasing quickly enough, causing particular problems when some of the larger international shows take place in Lyon (eg, Lyon Mode City, Pollutec, SIRHA). He also said that the region's ski resorts often do not make business tourism their priority market, operating booking conditions that are too restrictive.

All of which explains why, in order to mobilise the region's professionals and to make them realise just how profitable business tourism can be (representing just 1% of the region's bed nights, it nevertheless represent 4% of its profits), Rhône-Alpes Tourisme is currently working on the organisation of a bi-annual business tourism event from 2007 onwards. The project will complement the marketing activities undertaken by those conference offices which already concentrate on their commercial activities, focusing on the target markets of the UK, Belgium, Italy, USA, Russia and central Europe. Added to this international dimension is the economic strength of the Rhône-Alpes (scientific and university centres which train 20% of the country's engineers), a year-round tourism season linked to the region's diverse character and climate, and the understanding that business tourism does not happen without some publicity. Rhône-Alpes Tourisme intends to concentrate on these acknowledged facts in order to give added-value to the actions of the key regional partners.