A Trip to Sunny Cannes – The Heart of the Movie Industry

In the past few weeks, Trade Fair Trips have taken you on a journey through scenic France and showcased business opportunities for your company in the numerous trade fairs and exhibitions held in Paris and Bordeaux. Now it’s time to reach the end of tour of France with a brief excursion of Cannes. This will conclude our article series on exhibitions in France, but don’t worry. Trade Fair Trips has another destination in mind, which we’ll reveal at the end of this article! Stay tuned and don’t skip to the end!

Cannes has entered the cultural landscape as the host of the renowned and respected Cannes Film Festival, which has been going stronger since its first iteration as Festival international du film (International Film Festival in English). Cannes itself has garnered attention as THE resort town to go given its ideal location on the French Rivera and delightful natural beauty. The town has gained such a popularity over 40% of all tourists are not local! As such it’s no surprise to learn the town’s economy is mainly supported by the services sector. This is again supported by the number of festivals hosted.

What you might not expect, however, is for the town to be the host of a high-tech cluster. Just outside the town limits is the technopolis Sophia Antipolis, which focuses on advanced tech and houses branches of tech giants like Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Nvidia, and Orange Mobile. The town also entered spacecraft manufacturing in the early 20th century with by founding the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center, which gained importance after WWII. This makes Cannes into an exceptional place of interest for hosting industry events in a variety of industries.

The Palais des Festivals and Congresses is where the magic happens. The building officially opened in 1982 and has since then become the heart and soul of the town. Given its extreme popularity and use, the town launched into a large scale modernization plan that lasted for 10 years in aims to preserve the historic and iconic features such as the 24 stairs, which making the centre able to compete with the most modern exhibition spaces. All the work has paid off as the centre ranks 1st as a business destination after Paris.

Over 50 events are hosted year round with over 270,000 congressmen. Flexibility is high on the priority list, which is why there are 5 auditoriums, 24 organizers offices and 35 different exhibition spaces. From those 50 events, we’ll showcase you just two to whet your appetite! If you wish to see more, please contact us!

MARCHE DU FILM: You didn’t really expect that the Cannes Film Festival is the one and only event dedicated to the film industry. This event has been scheduled in May and will focus on the business aspects of the film industry. The market will focus on film technology innovations as well as professional networking for industry insiders. It’s not so much a fair dedicated to film as it’s a place for behind-the-scenes collaborations complete with pitching sessions and panels!

TFWA WORLD EXHIBITION: Coming this October, this trade show serves as a big stage for global brands to present their latest collections in fashion and accessories as well as act as a meeting place for professionals in the retail industry to exchange experience. There’s a large following with over 3000 premium brands represented, 500 exhibitors with booths as well as close to 7000 industry insiders taking part in the event and conference!

It’s a short trip, but Cannes itself is a more relaxed destination with a leisurely appreciation of art as well as business. That has to do with the startling natural beauty. With Cannes, we come to the end of our exploration of France as a destination! If you’re ready to pack your bags and head to France, don’t hesitate to contact us and request we organize your business trip. Trade Fair Trips ltd has plenty of events in our database. Just write to get top deals for the country and beyond!

Next week we’re moving onto a brand new country. One that’s famous the world over with its contribution to world cuisine – namely sunny, cheerful Italy!