Atout France India continued with its annual tradition of organising its flagship B2B showcase in September with two virtual B2B workshops that took place on September 21 -22, 2020. While the 21st September workshop was exclusively dedicated to Paris and its Region, the workshop of the following day, “Explore France” put the spotlight on France’s diverse destinations. More than 500 pre-scheduled interactions took place between the Indian buyers and the French suppliers over these two days.
The Paris Region Workshop allowed for focused exchanges on tourism opportunities in the City of Lights and its surrounds with a formidable delegation representing luxury hotels, touristic attractions, logistic vendors and nightlife options. The time was opportune for Parisian stakeholders to showcase the charter “Caring Attitude” implemented by the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau which is essentially a series of safety and health measures implemented by tourism professionals to ensure the complete security of its overseas visitors in Paris. The Paris Regional Tourism Board led the initiative alongside Atout France and reiterated the message of commitment to the cause of tourism in the No 1 destination worldwide.
France’s diverse destinations were well represented at the Explore France Workshop with an impressive presence from the Alps. This included the Regional Tourism Board of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, ski resorts such as Courchevel, Megève, Méribel, Val d’Isère, Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, the ski school ESF 1850 Courchevel, luxury accommodation such as le K2 Collections (Courchevel) and the ski-lift company-the Mont-Blanc Natural Resort. Complementing this formidable Alpine presence were delegates from destinations such as Nice, Occitanie Sud de France, Lourdes, Northern France and Lisieux-Authentic Normandy. France’s overseas destinations were represented by Reunion Island and for the first time, the delegation included a telecommunications provider in the form of Bouygues Telecom.
Adding their signature style to the Explore France workshop, Atout France organised a virtual photo-booth for all participants and also an online interactive baking session with renowned Chef Pooja Dhingra for the Indian buyers. Combining the vintage and the contemporary, digitally enhanced postcards of destinations/services represented at the workshop made for many a virtual journey to France.
Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France India, said “We are very pleased with the support received by both our French and Indian stakeholders. For us, it was always essential to keep the connection between our two countries from a tourism standpoint alive and active. Though we would have much liked our on-ground workshop format with actual interactions and exchanges, we are happy that these digital versions helped reinforce links between our buyers and suppliers.”
