A survey by the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau confirms the appeal of the French capital
For the fifth consecutive year, the Bureau has carried out a survey on congress activity in Paris and the Paris region. Features of this analysis.
Diversity of some 200 congress sites
In 2009, Paris welcomed on average 78 congresses per month and on average 757 participants per event at some 200 sites:
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37 % of congresses were held at congress centres which hosted approximately ¾ of congress attendees;
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25 % took place at establishments of a scientific nature (hospitals, universities, institutes) ;
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38 % are held in hotels, meeting rooms or even at events venues (museums, etc.);
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The percentage of congresses taking place in meeting rooms (15% in 2009) has increased regularly since 2007 (+5 points) to the detriment of those held at scientific establishments (-6 points). Congress centres have gained 2 points in 3 years.
A mainly national rotation, of « large congresses» and of « regular » congresses
In 2009, there were more nationally rotating congresses (82 %) than internationally rotating congresses. Nevertheless, the fact that they were held in Paris gave them greater visibility.
Also of note, the important number of events with more than 5,000 participants: 19 in 2009, they comprised of 30% of congress attendees.
77% of congresses in 2009 were “regular”. This particularity represents an important base of economic activity for the capital and all the more so as 2009 turned out to be difficult for tourism in general and business tourism in particular.
8 % of business overnights
Congress attendee overnights in Parisian hotels, totalling 1.2 million, accounted for 8% of business overnights which accounted for 43% of global overnights in 2009.
More congresses
930 congresses were held in Paris in 2009, 30 more congresses than in 2008. Medical congresses, 48% of congresses in 2009, have regularly increased in number: +5 points in 3 years.
More participants
Although having a different structure to other years (the number of nationally rotating congresses was greater than in other years), congress activity in 2009 in Paris and the Paris region held up very well in a period when business overnights saw a general drop of 4%. The number of participants increased: 680,000 in 2007, 670,000 in 2008, and more than 700,000 in 2009, that is 30,000 extra participants between 2008 and 2009!
However, Parisian congress attendees were more French than international: 43 % of congresses in 2009 were classed as international compared to 57 % in 2008 and 50 % in 2007.
Shortening of the average length of congresses
One of the characteristics of the congress activity in Paris in 2009 was the shortening of the length of events. One day congresses did indeed account for 39 % of congresses in 2009 compared to 26 % in 2008 and 35 % in 2007. The average length of congresses in Paris went from 2.5 days in 2008 to 2.2 days in 2009, the same level as in 2007.
International rankings that were not a reflection of the dynamic activity observed
In terms of international rankings, Paris remained in the top three but lost its leading position. This can be explained notably by the structure of congresses organized in the capital in 2009. The rankings of the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association – which identifies and analyzes data from meetings of international associations with a minimum of 50 participants, organized on a rotational basis at regular intervals, in at least 3 different countries), ranked Paris 3rd. Joint first with Vienna in 2008, the capital lost its place to the latter and to Barcelona. For its part, the UIA (Union of International Associations – which identifies and analyzes data from meetings of international and national associations with a minimum of at least 300 participants, over a period of at least 3 days, and which include at least 5 different nationalities and 40% of foreigners) ranked Paris 3rd. Second in 2008, Paris was overtaken by Singapore and Brussels.
Nevertheless, the criteria of these rankings reveal little about the global activity of a destination in terms of congresses. They are more a reflection of the capacity of cities to concentrate on the transmission of information in order to feature in rankings with rigid criteria than on the global scope of the activity of the sector in the city. As can be seen in the 39 associations that chose Paris as the place to organize their first event and which do not feature in the ICCA rankings because they are first-timers.
Finally, the future looks bright which makes it possible to count among the leading future conferences: the European Society of Cardiology Congress in 2011 – 30,000 participants, the largest congress ever to be held in Paris; the International Congress of Applied Psychology in 2014 – 8,000 participants, and the European Congress on Hypertension in 2016 – 8,000 participants.
