Premier conference cru

Paul Colston experiences a special event degustation courtesy of BEAM in Bordeaux and finds a heady vintage is taking shape. Bordeaux, famous for its wine, is now in the process of creating quite an event vintage. This multi-faceted metropolis is diverse and authentic and able to host events of all sizes, from select gatherings of a dozen people, up to large-scale events for 50,000. I was able to sample the full event flavour on a recent visit to the city courtesy of BEAM (Bordeaux Events And More). Despite the city’s 18th-century architecture and its central UNESCO World Heritage site area, Bordeaux until relatively recently had not attracted tourists in large numbers. Now, the city offers a mixture of ultra-modern museums, including most prominently the Cité du Vin wine museum and its swirling architectural design – where you can experience the evolution of the region, and indeed the world’s, wine-making heritage. The historic wharf areas have been given a modern facelift and a complete new visitor infrastructure including hotels and smart cafes and restaurants. For the event organiser, eight conference and exhibition centres are increasingly busy and fully equipped to meet the most exacting needs of the business tourist and delegate.

Relaxed ambience

The city also has a relaxed atmosphere and is proud of its green and sustainability credentials – with an overall score of 85% on the GDS-Index, Bordeaux is in the global Top 5 of the 72 destinations audited thus far. Greenery, agricultural land and woodland together make up 51% of the total surface area of Bordeaux Métropole. The city air is clean and a tram network – where much of the cabling is underground – spans the 28 constituent municipalities of the metropolis, along with 330km of cycle paths. 93% of the city’s large hotels are accessible within 30 minutes using public transport.

The ambience is further relaxed by the city’s water backdrop provided both by the River Garonne and the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Bordeaux’s historic vineyards and wine culture breathe right throughout the city, of course, with a veritable Nebuchadnezzar size offer of wine bars, tasting schools, wine museums, wine merchants and micro-wineries. This welcoming city is an inspiring place to organise a wide range of events and, this year, Bordeaux will play host to major events such as the European Company Sport Games, the Robocup and the Woodrise congress, along with a series of major sporting events and public celebrations including the Rugby World Cup in the Autumn. While the city’s world-famous wine festival, Bordeaux Fête le Vin, again took place successfully at the end of June, a month when the city’s hotels reported being over 80% full. The Bordeaux Convention Bureau says it is working on 150 future corporate events and congresses which add up to a combined total of 400,000 event days. Most of the corporate projects are scheduled for 2023-2024, but they also include 46 congress partnerships, some of which run until 2029. Bordeaux is back to pre-Covid levels of activity and the number of hotel rooms available across the metropolis has risen by 1,500 since 2019. Congress business is still to approach 2019 levels but the gap is narrowing: 2022 was just 10% down on 2019 and that was only on nine months of trading. The business tourism Observatory coordinated by the BCB identified 2,500 professional events taking place across the metropolis in 2022. Activity in the corporate sector has, however, bounced back to 2019 levels and the outlook for 2023 is very good, says Olivier Occelli, managing director of Bordeaux Tourism & Congress.

Sustainability team

Bordeaux Métropole’s Tourism and Congress board has established a dedicated sustainable development department tasked with supporting local professionals with their sustainable transition efforts. The work includes training and awareness-raising activities, as well as support with certification processes. And results are already showing: In 2022, 35% of the Bordeaux Tourism and Congress members already had sustainable transition strategies in place and the target is 50% in 2024, and 80% by 2026.

The goal is to train professionals on how to organise environmentally friendly events with lasting benefits for the territory. Currently, it is the only such training programme in France. The BCB has drawn up a practical guide containing 10 key steps for organising eco-positive events. The guide, available to all event organisers, goes beyond the general best practices to offer a precise focus on the innovative solutions available within the region (waste recycling, redistribution of uneaten food, integration through employment schemes etc.) and features a spotlight on local associations and their social and environmental actions. A dedicated team of four people at the bureau are in constant contact with both event organisers and venues and service providers, helping to bring the two sides of the industry together on this important subject. “We are constantly expanding our list of partners who share our values, and building closer relationships with local associations in order to champion meaningful activities which can help professional events to create positive social legacies for the places that host them,” says BCB Amélie Déchénais.

“In 2022, 35% of the Bordeaux Tourism and Congress members already had sustainable transition strategies in place and the target is 50% in 2024, and 80% by 2026”

Aligning with excellence

Bordeaux’s neurosciences sector is one particular area where the city has a unique offer. Researchers and clinical specialists from Bordeaux Neurocampus, doctors from the university hospital, founders of start-ups and local businesses, students and doctoral researchers are all united in this special cluster that is proving a magnet for events in the field. Bordeaux’s neurosciences community is now one of the biggest of its kind in France, and indeed in Europe, with over 700 scientists working in this area at the University of Bordeaux. The wood processing industry is another stronghold in the city and a sector where related conferences and events are being won, including Woodrise, a new congress on skyscraper technology which attracts over 1,000 delegates.

Ambassadors Club

Déchénais also told CMW about the Bordeaux Ambassadors’ Club. Founded in 2007 under the aegis of the BCB, it now has over 380 members from the fields of academia, science, business, industry and international associations. “Thanks to the support of these ambassadors, the bureau is able to put organisers in direct contact with the local business ecosystem and ensure a positive, long-term legacy for the territory,” says Déchénais, who adds that, in 2022 the bureau also launched ‘Bordeaux Bienvenue’, with the aim of simplifying the process of organising professional events, optimising the experience for participants and forging links with territorial stakeholders for an events strategy “which is more forward-thinking and more respectful of the local economic and social environment”. For events matching the scheme’s criteria, Bordeaux Bienvenue offers a number of potential advantages such as guaranteed availability and prices for accommodation thanks to the hotel charter, or free use of public transport, or special signs and banners around the city, at the station and at the airport, as well as essential advice on venues and contacts with local politicians and stakeholders. ‘Bordeaux Bienvenue’ is also the name of a collective encompassing all of the institutional and professional actors involved in events organisation in and around Bordeaux. In 2022, seven major congresses attracting a total of 7,500 participants were celebrated with visual displays around the city using their event branding, while 25,000 participants received free tickets for Bordeaux’s public transport system.

Hotels

Spring 2023 has seen the reopening of the five-star hotel Burdigala in the Mériadeck district of the city centre, now with 83 rooms, as well as the Novotel Bordeaux Aéroport which has also been fully renovated. At the airport, the four-star Sheraton opened for business in January with 177 rooms and an integrated conference centre capable of hosting 300 participants. JOST, a ‘lifestyle’ hotel with 80 rooms and 200 beds is new in the centre, and CMW’s base hotel, The Renaissance Bordeaux, offers 149 rooms. There, right next to the Cite du Vin and Les Halles Bacalan, you can enjoy the bar and restaurant from Bordeaux’s highest hotel rooftop. The hotel has kept the original cooking oil silos that were on the site and which have become quite an Instagram feature. The sister hotel, Moxy, next door, offers a much less formal visitor experience for the younger generation traveller to what is now a trendy industrial district that easily connects to the city centre via tram.

Venues

Bordeaux is home to one of Europe’s biggest exhibition centres which stretches almost 900m in length, capable of hosting events on a vast scale. Hall 1 alone offers 50,000sqm of floorspace, and can be supplemented by Hall 3 (12,000sqm), Hall 4 (7,500sqm) and an outdoor space of 120,000sqm. The Palais 2 l’Atlantique is a modular space, able to hold plenary sessions with up to 6,000 participants and exhibitions. The hall also has a 1,000sqm lobby space and 12 flexible meeting rooms capable of holding between 100 and 400 people each. Bordeaux Congress Centre is a light and modern facility with three amphitheatres ranging in size from 196 to 1,293 seats, a modular exhibition/catering space of 3,000sqm, plus 10 smaller meeting rooms. I also visited Hangar 14, on the banks of the River Garonne. It has two 3,000sqm spaces on the ground floor as well as an upper floor with 1,400sqm more. Lunch on the 600sqm panoramic terrace not only showcased the fine catering available, but offered a striking view of the river and the city. The Cité Mondiale Congress Centre, meanwhile, offers a high-quality base for corporate and association conferences in the city centre, with a 300-seater auditorium, four meeting rooms ranging in size from 20 to 190 seats, and a flexible 1,270qm exhibition/catering space.

BEAM

As Bordeaux looks out from the Garonne to the international market, its new marketing branding, ‘Bordeaux Events And More’ (BEAM) is forging a new and impactful identity aiming to shine the global meetings light on this remarkable city and its meetings and events assets. BEAM markets and delivers events at five of the venues: Bordeaux Exhibition Centre, Palais 2 l’Atlantique, Bordeaux Congress Centre, Hangar 14 and the Cité Mondiale Congress Centre. BEAM is ISO 20121 certified and works hand in glove with the BCB. Stéphane Kintzig, BEAM director, says the target for the city in the short term is 1.3m visitors per year and he clearly believes in this very joined up approach across the city. “We are the only destination where the range is so wide for events and activities. We all work together to find the solution for our clients.”

Incentives and activities

While Bordeaux certainly sits in the premier conference league in terms of conference and events venues, its special ingredients are the charms of the surrounding region and numerous activity options for delegates keen to absorb some of the local heritage and attractions of this unique French environment. There are memorable teambuilding away days at wine chateaux and cellars to consider, incentives on the water, including trips on the River Garonne, as well as treasure hunts on the Bassin d’Arcachon, to name a few.

Our group had an enthralling guided tour of the old city with B comme Bordeaux and a ride in two vintage 2CV, courtesy of ‘4 roues sous 1 parapluie’. The pièce de resistance, undoubtedly for me, was a visit to Chateau Giscours, set in a 300 hectare Medoc wine estate in the Gironde near Margaux. The whole experience really was premier cru and an ideal stop for those wishing to find out all about the art of fine wine-making and maybe even explore how to hold your event in such a beautiful setting. I raise a toast to the words of Stéphane Kintzig who told us: “Bordeaux’s way of life can make the difference to your event.” Santé.

Bordeaux numbers

• 8 Conference centres
• 347 UNESCO-listed monuments
• 60 Centres of Excellence in the region
• 65 wine appellations
• 5,300 wine chateaux
• 400,000 congress days in 2022
• 2,500 events in 2022
• 35 Paris-Bordeaux journeys per day