Géraldine Cesbron, General Commissioner of the Timber Show
The Timber Show (Carrefour International du Bois) welcomes 39% international visitors. How has the number of international visitors changed since 2012, when you first started working with Promosalons?
Developing the number of international visitors has been an important issue for our event from the outset. The Carrefour International du Bois is organised by Fibois Pays de la Loire (an interprofessional organisation for the forestry and timber industry). The operational team is made up of 3 people, so it’s obvious that to develop campaigns in different countries we need external support. We had the pleasure of joining Promosalons in 2012 with the aim of focusing our efforts on ‘wood-buying’ countries. In 2012 we had 18% foreign visitors from 74 countries. Today, we have 39% international visitors, with nearly 100 visiting countries. This excellent progress is due to the close collaboration and reciprocal monitoring between the teams from the various Promosalons offices and the CIB team.
What challenges do you face in attracting international visitors to Nantes, and how do you respond to them?
The show’s reputation and positioning are now assets that enable it to attract quality visitors from both national and international markets. The challenge is always to find customers for our exhibitors. The proportion of international exhibitors is one of the keys to this development, and our 39% foreign exhibitors help us to communicate beyond our borders in addition to working with the various offices.
Nantes is well served by several links between different European cities via the airport and a TGV link from Paris several times a day. The city’s human scale, with an exhibition centre accessible by tram, car pooling in taxis and working with the Nantes Convention Bureau help us to improve the welcome on site. The very green setting of the Beaujoire Exhibition Centre is also an asset that we are making the most of, as our visitors are very sensitive to it. In addition, our work with the Promosalons offices means that we can reserve a very special welcome for partner federations (welcome by the show’s Chairman, access to the VIP area, provision of rooms, etc.) or identify visitors whom we welcome as VIPs and assist them with their visa applications, if necessary and depending on the destination.
The timber industry is very concerned with innovation to reduce its environmental impact. How is this issue represented at the show?
Environmental impact is a complicated issue for major international events. The forestry and wood industry is at the heart of these issues, because by definition it is one of the assets in the fight against climate change.
In practice, actions such as working as much as possible with local service providers, sorting waste at source, making the most of public transport, setting up car-sharing taxis to the station and airport, dematerialising exhibitor and visitor materials, using carpeting sparingly, limiting the size of stands, etc. all contribute to being more virtuous. There is still room for improvement, particularly with regard to the consumption of fluids during the event. ExpoNantes is currently working on these areas.