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Cécile Mairaville, Congress Director, Paris Convention Bureau
Did you know, that ...?
+ Paris is a small city: it can be crossed by foot in less than 2 hours!
+ 1,055 congresses were hosted in Paris in 2013?
+ Paris has 17 congress centers and more than 150 000 rooms?
+ The British were the first “frog eaters” before the French! It has been scientifically proved!
Where to meet?
Paris offers 17 functional and modular dedicated venues. The Palais des Congrès de Paris comprises 4 amphitheaters from 400 to 3,723 seats, 18 meeting rooms seating up to 380, 70 business suites and over 19,000m² of exhibition space. In addition, scientific venues such as schools or hospitals can host congresses. For instance, UNESCO’s headquarters or the Institut Pasteur are among the most popular venues. Congresses are also welcomed in meeting rooms, hotels with meetings facilities, museums and events venues.
Where to stay?
Paris Region has more than 150,000 bedrooms. Almost 50% of the rooms are part of 2- or 3- star hotels. Bedrooms of luxury hotels (4- and 5-stars) represent 36% of the total of bedrooms. On European level, Paris ranked 4th in terms of average hotel prices, behind Geneva, Moscow and London.
The major chains account for 46.5% of hotel rooms in Paris, and, thanks to their know-how, resources and networks, guarantee a high quality of service across a full range of accommodation from basic comfort to luxury services.
Other types of accommodation are available such as youth accommodation (6 877 beds in the Paris region) and aparthotels (more than 11,000 apartments). Examples of international chains in Paris: Marriott, Hyatt, Starwood, Hilton, Intercontinental, Accor.
How to get there?
Paris is connected to the world with an outstanding transport network. Two international airports (CDG and Orly) operate services to and from 967 cities. They welcomed 90 million passengers in 2013, with 14,000 flights a week. Six train stations are linked to 145 French destinations and 20 European capitals. In 2013, 10 million people travelled on Eurostar and 6.7 million aboard Thalys. The city has 302 metro stations and more than 17,600 taxis.
Do you offer any special services/assistance for associations?
Yes, thanks to its strong collaboration with over 600 members in business tourism, the Paris Convention Bureau benefits from a complete overview of the offer of Paris. It can provide the associations with impartial and unbiased advice, identification of a local member if needed, assistance in bidding, recommendation of relevant suppliers (hotels, caterers, transportation, services, hostesses, professional congress organizers…), organization of site inspections and contact with the Paris City Council and other authorities.
Whom to contact?
Cécile Mairaville, Congress Director: cmairaville@parisinfo.com
Clarisse Dupont, Congress development coordinator: cdupont@parisinfo.com
The Paris Convention Bureau encourages and supports professional associations and scientific societies that wish to propose Paris as a host destination for their congress. It helps them throughout the process, from the compilation of the bid; it recommends service providers and organizes site inspection visits. It carries out part of the lobbying, right up to the presentation of Paris to the international committee of the association. The Convention Bureau represents the destination, in connection with the services of the City, the Region and the State.
It gathers Parisian professionals and institutional players participating in a bid, in order to offer a full and tailor-made offer. http://en.convention.parisinfo.com, www.parisinfo.com