by Celion Su

Background

Established in 1967， PROMOSALONS aims to promote French trade fairs worldwide. The association offers professional expertise， know-how and unparalleled coverage through a global network of 60 offices covering 120 countries. PROMOSALONS China delegation aims to promote high end trade fairs in France to Chinese companies， and also provides information and consulting service for Chinese exhibitors. Recently， Overseas Exhibitions magazine interviewed Mr. Lou Shuyu， who has just come back from PROMOSALONS annual meeting in Paris， and gained a more comprehensive view on how the China office understand the interlinks between China and France exhibition industry， and how they would like to contribute to further cooperation between the two countries.

Overseas Exhibitions： Could you please share with us your experience at the Paris annual meeting this time？

Lou： PROMOSALONS hosts annual meetings in January and June every year， and gathers delegates in different countries to meet with exhibition organizers to discuss how to promote and invite international exhibitors and audiences. This year， about sixty organizers attended the meeting. PROMOSALONS as a nongovernmental organization is operated commercially. At the annual meeting， delegates in foreign countries made operation proposals to organizers. If the proposals are approved， a service contract will then be signed. Although PROMOSALONS receives stipends from the government， it only accounts for 15% of the organizations revenue. PROMOSALONS meets its budgets by providing service.

PROMOSALONS China office was launched in 1993， and officially operated since 1994. Relied on extensive international exchange and trade experience， the Chinese office promotes about twenty French trade fairs， through exhibitors invitation and visitors promotion.

Overseas Exhibitions： What are the new trends of exhibition industry in France？ Does that bring new challenges for the work of Chinese delegation？

Lou： In 2012 Chinese GDP growth rate was 7.8%， while the France GDP growth rate was 0. Under such circumstances， the French exhibition industry has shown some new features. First， it still focuses on European market， and the effort to promote in other regions is conservative. Second， exhibition companies are developing in clusters through M&A， which lowers the cost of operation of exhibitions and increases the scale of the exhibitions. Thirdly， greater effort has been made to boost the brand image of the exhibitions. For example， some major brand exhibitions are opening branch exhibitions in Asia， Middle East and South Africa， aiming to strengthen the original exhibition. However， some exhibitions， for example， Paris Air Show， have no plan to branch in other parts of the world， because the aviation industry is monopolized， and two or three international exhibitions are enough， while in industries like food and construction， there is market demand for branch exhibitions. Generally speaking， exhibitions in conventional industries flourish easily and last long.

Last but not least， Paris region government has been putting more effort into the exhibition promotion around the world. Relatively speaking， the more international an exhibition is， more international exhibitors will come， and the easier to invite trade visitors. For example， one of the key reasons why German exhibitions are competitive and attract international exhibitions are that their exhibitors come from four corners of the world.

The work of PROMOSALONS China office is closely related with that of the market situation in China. For example， in 2012， 134 Chinese exhibitors participated in Intermat， with net exhibition area reached 20，000m2， which equaled to a middle-sized exhibition in China. This was because Chinese companies had the desire to export their goods. In a word， PROMOSALONS China office must base its agenda on current Chinese market situation and the market demand of the Paris-centered European region.

Overseas Exhibitions： What do you think China exhibition industry can draw from French exhibition industry？

Lou： A distinctive developmental trend of the French exhibition industry is that it is more and more unified and well regulated. In China， however， there is no professional exhibition association yet. I think that Chinese exhibition organizers could learn from France and form an industrial association to regulate the market and integrate resources. Also， to have the exhibition certified by a third party to be more credible. The most effective way for industrial development， however， is to form an industrial association so that member exhibition organizers can promote Chinese exhibitions in the world with joint effort.

Overseas Exhibitions： In comparison with Germany， what are the advantages of French exhibition industry？

Lou： The development of the exhibition industry is closely associated with the industrial strengths in the country. The French exhibition industry does not compete with that of Germany， whose exhibition industry is supported in financial and other terms by local government， and that the German people possess strong organizational skills. However， in industries like aviation， fashion， textile and home furnishing， France is incomparable in the world. Also， German has several exhibition centers like Cologne， Dusseldorf， Hanover and Munich， while in France， there is only Paris， which possesses the worlds biggest exhibition area of 900，000m2 and the citys charm as a renown tourist city also has great positive influence on the exhibition industry.

Overseas Exhibitions： Thank you for sharing with us your insights on SinoFrench exhibition industry exchange. How do you perceive the future of bilateral exhibition industry？

Lou： I think that much indirect contact is not as effective as face-to-face contact. I am willing to see more and more Chinese companies to participate in and to visit French exhibitions. Meanwhile， to host industrial forums for information exchange. As the China office of PROMOSALONS， we will strengthen our effort to promote French brand exhibitions in China， and to cooperate with veteran exhibition organizations and carry out postexhibition research to strengthen the platform of exhibitions as a trade platform.