Rendezvous en France returns to Paris with a bang

Parisian tourism stakeholders have high expectations from India
2023-03-26
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/ Paris
Rendezvous en France returns to Paris with a bang

Rendezvous en France, the leading B2B travel show in France, returns to Paris in 2023 (Photo: Atout France)

The leading French B2B travel trade show Rendezvous en France returned to Paris for its 2023 edition in strength with large participation not just by French exhibitors but also buyers from all over the world.
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Marking a return to the capital Paris after a gap of five years, Rendezvous en France, the key B2B trade show for the travel and tourism industry saw a huge turnout from all around the world, indicating a very busy touristic season in the summer and year ahead.

Rendezvous en France

Over 1850 professionals in the tourism industry gathered in Paris this week to participate in the event (Photo: Atout France)

According to the organisers, Atout France, the French tourism promotion agency, more than 1850 professionals of tourism gathered in Paris earlier this week for the event which is open only on invitation, with several key travel agents from leading source markets like the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, South Korea and India in attendance.

The organisers say that over 660 French exhibitors, including tourism promotion boards of regions and cities all over France as well as hotels, entertainment sites, DMCs and transport firms put up stalls at the event, which also featured 786 international travel agents. Atout France says that more than 26,300 pre-fixed B2B meetings were held over the two-day event.

In terms of exhibitors, Paris and its surrounding areas accounted for about 27.5 pc of all exhibitors, with south of France and the west taking other big chunks of 25.5 pc and 24 pc respectively. While 38 pc of all exhibitors were hotels or restaurants, 25.5 pc were tourism promotion bodies and 16 pc museums, monuments and chateaux.

European travel agents made up almost half of all international agents

European travel agents made up almost half of all international agents (Photo: Atout France)

Almost 50 pc of international travel agents were from Europe, while Asia and Africa accounted for 168 agents or 21 pc and 169 agents represented the Americas. The Middle East was another focus with 58 agents from the region. In all, the number of foreign travel agents rose by 34 pc compared to the turnout in 2022.

For the benefit of international trade buyers as well as the hosted international media, Atout France organised a total of 26 fam trips, covering a variety of themes and destinations all over France. In addition, on the opening evening of the tourism fair, the hosts organised a glamorous soirée under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, aboard boats in the Seine River.

Several leading travel agents from India were present at the show, with many exhibitors, notably those from Paris as well as south of France making a beeline to meet with them. For many of them, India represents one of the key markets. Paris-based luxury department stores Printemps has lined up a series of exclusive offers with customised service, its neighbour Galleries Lafayette too has its sights on the Indian market which is becoming increasingly important.

Theme parks like Disneyland or Parc Asterix and other attractions like observation skydeck Montparnasse Tower and the wax museum Musée Grevin also are banking on a stronger return of tourists from India for the upcoming summer season.

Indian travel agents present at the show were also enthusiastic about a sharply growing demand for France in India but raised concerns about the time lags for visa services, which are yet to recover from the Covid-19 clampdown. However, they remained hopeful that the situation, which had eased compared to last year, will continue to improve in the weeks to come.

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