Paris, destination for corporate events

Julie Bauwens, beon. France Office Director, summarizes in this interview her views on the Paris event industry in relation with the French context, and her experiences with clients’ projects and service requirements.

Paris will always be an attraction and a destination. When people think of Paris, visions of culture, art, French cuisine, wine and champagne all come to mind. In the city of lights, modernity and innovation pairs brilliantly with history and authenticity!  As Audrey Hepburn used to say: “Paris is always a good idea”.

Here, at beon, France, we understand the trends of events and corporate travel. Currently we have the growing sector of sporting events in our radar. With the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris, and the new infrastructures being developed in the city, there are infinite possibilities.

Could you highlight some of the most important events in France that should be in our upcoming horizon?

There is no doubt that Paris attracts many corporate travels.  Paris is the ideal city for a product launch or a huge convention with its extraordinary venues and congress centres.

Paris is also the elected capital for the organization of various trade shows.

The Maison&Objet trade show is an important international event for interior design and home decoration. Held biannually, it has been described as one of “the most important 3 European events for interior design.”

The Salon International de l’Alimentation is a professional trade show for the food industry. It takes place every two years and is the world’s largest food exhibition.

The Fashion Week and the legendary Paris Motor Show are also very important events taking place in the capital.

What are clients pursuing these days with event management? Which services are in high demand now?

Today one of the main priorities, and especially for SMEs & SMIs, is to optimize costs, which is also valid for the budget of business trips. According to the French Association on Travel Management, 80% of companies organize their events internally. If they decide to work with an event agency, it will be for an added value, content and creativity. They also don’t always have the time to look for the perfect venue and lack the eye of a professional.

Nowadays, people are more accustomed to travel as all the information they need to discover is at their fingertips. They need to be impressed and surprised!  As an event agency, we want to offer that! At beon. Worldwide we offer out-of-the-box programs, taking people to regions they might not know, making them feel extraordinary, and creating emotions and long-lasting memories.

Also, during conventions and seminars, the participants have new expectations; they want to be better informed, to have more opportunities to learn about the event, they expect simpler processes to register and to be able to participate actively in keynotes, conferences or workshops thanks to interaction tools. The participants expect organizers to offer them the opportunity to network and interact with other visitors.

Sometimes, the more traditional event professionals sometimes are short of meeting these expectations in any industry, as at times tradition blocks innovation. beon. Worldwide thrives here, as we balance the positives of being one of the largest companies in Europe in the event industry but with the innovation of a startup.

Another aspect that has emerged in the French event industry: 3 startup villages have been set up dedicated to food, design, art and oenology. All of these sectors should arouse great interest among event organizers as the all advocate creativity, community and promote a sharing culture, which are all perfect elements to organize an event.

The 2018 trends can be summed up in a few key words: Borderless, Global, Live, Experience, Social, Easy.

beon. Worldwide aims to a global positioning as a event management agency, as well as in the international MICE industry. In this context, how will beon. France contribute to this market, taking into account the know-how of an experienced group such as beon. Worldwide?

There are not many agencies that can say they have a real 360 vision in the event industry. It is uncommon for a company to be able to create, produce, organize, communicate and digitalize an event under the same roof. This allows our clients to have an expert’s advice at every stage of a project and to be in control throughout the entire process.

For example, less than 30% of organizers use digital tools to manage their event, most likely since they lack the technology in their organization. But much like the rest of the world, technology is almost always part of the trend.

Facial recognition, augmented reality, virtual reality will become major actors in the event scene.

Already a trend since 2017, the live streaming is also expanding. With Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, we have all the tools that allow our events to go live as we are very well integrated on all social platforms. Dematerialization has become a priority for the event industry we are well on the path to digitalization.

Luckily, we have prioritized these areas and trends for the past several years which has allowed us to be one step ahead and to constantly have a futuristic vision and training our teams on the latest technology. With beon. Worldwide global holding experience and our vision set on the future trends, we feel that we will position ourselves nicely in France.