Paris Simply Amazing 2016

2 01 6
PRESS RELEASE PARIS 2016 | Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau | January 2016
In 2016, Paris continues to transform itself and the face of the capital for the 2020s takes shape. The city’s capacity to
rank alongside the most innovative cities contributes to its appeal. A recent study (Mori Foundation) singles Paris out for
the quality of its transpo­ and liveability.
The city’s cultural offering remains without doubt the destination’s key aƒraction, with the opening of new prestigious
or unusual sites, and the organization of exceptional events. From museums to trendy bars, from galleries to design
hotels, from unique monuments to highly-prized restaurants, Paris is more than ever a remarkable capital
city that likes to surprise Parisians and visitors.
PARIS CREATES A BUZZ. All year long, some 300 events take place every day in the city. Among
the most popular are the Fête de la Musique (Music Day) and the Nuit des Musées (Museum
Night), but also Paris Plages — a summer event which transforms pas of the city into a
seaside reso —, and Nuit Blanche with its a pe ormances, not forge­ing the traditional
Christmas illuminations that add sparkle to every district. In 2016, prestigious exhibitions
are programmed throughout the year: High on the agenda for big names and classic exhibitions are Hube­ Robe­ and Bouchardon at the Louvre Museum, Le Douanier Rousseau
at Orsay Museum, and Rembrandt at the Musée Jacquema André, aŽer an exhibition in
the first six months of the year on the open-air studio a­ists in Normandie (Monet, Renoir,
Pissarro …). Fashion fans will head to the Musée des As décoratifs to see the exhibition
Fashion Forward, Three Centuries of Fashion, and Barbie will also be topping the bill! Fans of
modern and contemporary a will enjoy the major international events Fiac and A­ Paris A­ Fair.
Several exhibitions are devoted to leading international aists in disciplines from photography to painting
and fashion, with notably Anselm Kiefer at the Centre Pompidou, and the photographers Lucien Clergue and Seydou Keïta
at the Grand Palais. The year 2016 will also see the return of Monumenta. This 7th edition celebrates Huang Yong Ping.
Paris Design Week is now a feature on the design scene alongside the Maison & Objet trade show, the Puces du Design
and Designer’s Days. Gastronomy is also well represented with the Fooding and Omnivore food festivals, the Fête de la
Gastronomie and the event ‘Tous au restaurant’. The event Taste of Paris (tasting of signature dishes) returns for a
second edition gathering together the greatest French chefs under the nave of the Grand Palais.
Throughout the year, major spoing events thrill spectators: The French Open Tennis Championship at Roland-Garros,
the finish of the Tour de France cycle race, the Prix d’Amérique and Prix de Diane, and the Paris Marathon. What’s
more, this year, as a host for the Euro 2016 (10 June to 10 July), Paris is paicularly deserving of its title ‘world capital
of spo’. There is lots of excitement in store for football fans with matches, special events, etc.
Numerous professional and public trade shows are also programmed (chocolate, agriculture, aviation), which boost the
city’s image as an essential destination.
As a prominent capital city, Paris has in recent years opened new cultural venues including the Fondation Louis Vuiƒon
pour l’a­ contemporain and the Philharmonie, which opened at the beginning of 2015. Renovation projects have been
ongoing since the reopening of the Musée Picasso Paris with more recently the complete
revamp of the Musée Rodin and the Musée de l’Homme, and renovation work planned for
the Musée Maillol. The new AccorHotels Arena has also been unveiled, transforming the
former POPB into one of the five largest arenas in the world, capable of hosting international conces, spoing events, and shows, throughout the year.
Cinema still remains closely linked with the City of Light and countless films are shot
in the capital, inspiring numerous visitors to plan a city break and stroll around the
capital’s cinematic open-air decor, on the trail of actors and legendary scenes from
Amelie of Montmare to Midnight in Paris …
01
PRESS RELEASE PARIS 2016 | Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau | January 2016
The richness and sheer number of venues means that Paris can offer a wide choice, much appreciated by event planners.
The city remains a favourite destination for holding trade shows, congresses and corporate events, and, in the coming
years, it will benefit from impoant new infrastructures (major modernization project for the Parc des Expositions at Poe
de Versailles, a project for a new congress centre, etc.).
PARIS IS CAPTIVATING due to the quality of its lifestyle, which is always being reinvented. On the hotel scene, the
number and diversity of establishments continue to grow. Upscale hotels that have given the capital its reputation vie with one another in terms of innovation to enthral visitors and Parisians. The fact that major foreign
hotel groups have chosen to open in the French capital shows just how a­ractive Paris is. As for the historic
palace hotels, renovation and refurbishment is ongoing and they will soon unveil their new found splendour:
from March with the eagerly awaited opening of the Ritz, which will be followed in 2017 by the Hôtel de Crillon
and the Lutétia … Today, Paris boasts more and more innovative, surprising and themed hotels, offering new
experiences to hotel guests. Some such examples include, the 5 Codet, the Dupont-Smith, the Mareuil, the 123
Sébastopol, the Roch, the Exquis, the M Gallery Boutet, the 34B or the Antoine and the unique Off Paris Seine,
the first floating hotel …
On the gastronomy scene, chefs offer new restaurants with ever more creative cuisine — like Eric Frechon at the Gare
Saint-Lazare, Thierry Marx opens an establishment at the Gare du Nord; world renowned chef Alain Ducasse opens Les
Champeaux at Les Halles; not forge­ing Yannick Alléno at the Bourse and Jean-François Piège at a second Clover, and Guy
Savoy at the Monnaie de Paris, with his metal café — a now completed Métalmorphoses. The success of the ‘bistronomy’
trend continues with a flurry of new addresses. These new venues seek to be expes in authentic flavours and regional
products, which are also showcased in the many cooking workshops and gourmet tours that the capital is now renowned
for. Reinvented street food also has great appeal, as do single-dish menu restaurants and ‘locavore’ restaurants!
Paris is still resoundingly and forever the capital of fashion, luxury … and shopping! The winter and summer sales are
the highlights of this key sector, which throughout the year offers new stores and other a­ractions to a­ract clients in
search of something new. Sunday has also become synonymous with shopping, with the opening in 2016 of shops in twelve
tourist areas including Montmare, the Marais and the Champs-Élysées. Also to watch out for, the reopening of the Forum
des Halles with 130 boutiques, and the reopening of the luxury fine food store Hédiard. All the big international fashion
houses love Paris and prestigious labels boast boutiques with ever more edgy and ambitious design, and a raŽ of services
for clients. This whirl of activity spills over to all districts with shops vying to provide a diverse offer to appeal to all shoppers
whether they are looking for designer wear, vintage fashion, fashion with a French touch, or clothes of ethnic inspiration.
At night, Paris becomes more lively and convivial. There is something for all tastes in the capital with its
Parisian style, mix of genres and periods … From traditional cabarets to trendy clubs and atypical
venues, from permanent addresses to ephemeral evenings, Parisian nights are multifaceted!
And the night scene is always vibrant with new openings: the Brasserie Barbès, the bar at the
Maison Souquet, the Dandy, not forge­ing the Perchoir, the Point Ephémère, the Batofar or
the new Mathis. Conces, cocktail bars or even the electro scene (Wanderlust, Yoyo, Social
Club, Badaboum …) always have something new and round off evenings by the new collectives (WATO …).
CREATIVE PARIS. Cultural sites in Paris are a­racting more and more visitors, as can be seen by
the millions of entries recorded every year. Temporary exhibitions too are hugely popular and
every year draw record visitor numbers. This dynamic activity touches the tourism sector as a whole and initiatives of all kinds are taking shape in the capital, notably innovative tours offered by young companies, from
Welcome City Lab, for example. And of course, everyone is keen to discover the Paris of the Parisians to
experience that special a of living which is quintessentially Parisian. An oppounity to experience a
Paris that is both trendy and authentic.
02
PRESS RELEASE PARIS 2016 | Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau | January 2016
PARIS, A GREEN AND ECO-RESPONSIBLE DESTINATION. In addition to its 460 public parks and gardens, Paris has
many impoant ecological advantages that tourists can take advantage of. Non-motorized forms of transpo
are favoured: creation of bus lanes, extension of the Paris tramway, development of the Vélib’ and Autolib’
networks, 16 metro lines (a highly-efficient network despite being over a century old), etc. The redevelopment of the riverside expressways and the Place de la République also contribute to a new greener and
more dynamic vision. The protection of the environment continues to gain ground in the hotel industry with
ecological labels like Green Key, Ecolabel and Green Globe awarded to Parisian hotels that are taking more
and more initiatives (450 Parisian hotels have signed the tourist office’s Chaer for sustainable accommodation). Fuhermore, the end of 2015 put the spotlight firmly on sustainable and environmental issues with the
hosting of the world conference Paris Climat COP 21.
Paris also seeks to be a destination for everyone, adapted to as many people as possible and accessible to people
with disabilities, and initiatives are flourishing (1st floor of Eiffel Tower, Musée Zadkine, etc.).
PARIS IS CHANGING. Every day, the city is pushing its boundary limits a li­le fuher. Firstly viually, as the city
is connected to the whole world thanks to its Wi-Fi network in public parks and gardens, and in many cafes
and cultural venues … Then geographically, as the capital establishes links with neighbouring communes:
noh-east Paris is extending the 18th and 19th arrondissements towards Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers;
the east of Paris is drawing up new boundaries beyond the Poe des Lilas. The capital’s urban planning
and architectural ambitions — the great challenges for the future — have led to major building projects: a
canopy in the district of Les Halles, which has begun to materialize, new buildings (new Palais de Justice
[law cou­s] in a redeveloped Batignolles district, etc.), strengthening Paris’s position as a city that is
building tomorrow’s world.
As for the cultural sector, there is plenty happening. The opening of the newly-transformed Monnaie de Paris with new cultural and commercial offerings (2015-2016),
redevelopment work on the Ile Seguin, and the Vallée de la culture project, which
should be ready at the beginning of 2017 — preceded by the opening of the Cité
de la Musique at the end of 2016 —, are just a few examples and are a continuation of the transformations and changes already taking place in Paris.
P R ESS C ONTACT
+33 (0) 1 49 52 53 27 | press@parisinfo.com
More information: hƒp ://press.parisinfo.com
Access to photo library: hƒp ://pro.photos.parisinfo.com/en/
Photos: OTCP / Marc Berand, Amélie Dupont, Sarah Sergent; AccorHotels Arena; Batofar ; Bazaristain; Canopée des Halles / P. Berger
et J. Anziu­i Architectes; Dandy; Lido Paris; Monnaie de Paris; Musée de l’Homme / P. Tournebœuf Opic Tendance Floue; Pâtisserie
C. Lignac / Y. Deret.
03
PRESS RELEASE PARIS 2016 | Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau | January 2016
PARIS IN FIGURES
Key figures for Parisian tourism
— 2 airpo­s: the leading European hub; 6 international train stations
— 2hrs15 Paris-London
— 6hrs25 Paris-Barcelona
— 23,500 self-service Vélib’ bicycles
— More than 110,000 hotel rooms
— 297 metro stations; 13 minutes to travel across Paris
Why choose Paris?
— For its aƒractive prices
1 sandwich: €5; 1 croissant: €1
1 coffee: €2/ 1 menu: €15
1 metro ticket: €1.80
14 free museums
— For heritage
37 bridges
10,100 tons of steel in the Eiffel Tower
465 parks and gardens
2,000 animal species
6,500 years of history
— For culture
120 statues in the Tuileries Gardens
36,000 works exhibited at the Louvre
200 churches
14.3 million visitors to Notre-Dame
— For shopping
17,500 shops, 4 depament stores
12% tax refund for non-European visitors
69 days of sales each year
— For events
More than 300 every day
1.3 million people in the streets for Nuit Blanche
1,500 tons of sand for Paris Plages
— For ente­ainment
450 pe ormances at the Opéra de Paris
2,300 bo­les of champagne uncorked
every evening in cabarets
10,000 bars and restaurants
500 films showing every day
100 boat cruises every day
— For trends
25,000 aists living
and working in Paris
More than 950 film shoots
every year in Paris
100 countries represented during
the Paris fashion shows
— For business meetings
978 congresses listed in 2014
15 congress and exhibition centres
More than 600,000 m² of exhibition space
04
PRESS RELEASE PARIS 2016 | Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau | January 2016
PARIS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU
Paris, the world’s leading tourist destination, is as a­ractive for its classic heritage as it is for its trendy character.
The Bureau gives you the keys to the French capital …
A few figures
— 3 main missions: welcoming, informing, promoting
— more than 570,000 visitors welcomed at the information centres in 2015
— 1 main welcome office located in the hea of the French capital, between the Louvre Museum
and the Palais Garnier Opera House: 25 rue des Pyramides, Paris 1st
— 4 information points throughout Paris for a closer proximity to visitors:
Gare du Nord, Anvers, Gare de l’Est, Paris Rendez-vous at the Paris City Hall
— 13 million sessions to the website PARISINFO.com in 2015; 4 main websites in English, French,
Spanish and German; 7 mini sites in Italian, Pouguese, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Japanese,
and Korean
— Social network presence – Paris je t’aime (figures at the end of 2015):
Facebook: 280K fans • Twi­er: 85K followers • Instagram: 80K followers
— Some 300,000 free guidebooks for the general public, in French and English: city discovery guide Paris
City guide, and the brochure Visiting Paris.
Resources available to tourism trade professionals
— 1 photo library in French, English, Spanish and German
4,000 high-resolution photos that reflect the diversity of the destination, to illustrate aicles and brochures
— 1 press release, available in several languages
— 1 fully-comprehensive Paris 2016 information kit comprising:
3 ‘A and Culture’ files, in English and French
5 ‘Parisian Lifestyle’ files, available in several languages
3 ‘Paris in all seasons’ files, in English and French
4 ‘Paris on request’ files, in English and French
— 1 bilingual French/English e-newsleƒer ParisNews
— 1 website devoted to the Press – press.parisinfo.com
— 4 Paris posters (format 60 x 80 cm)
05