Business tourism in Normandy: a choice destination for professional events

Le port de Honfleur

Busi­ness tour­ism in Nor­mandy is boom­ing, driv­en by an ambi­tious region­al strategy and a unique set­ting that is attract­ing more and more com­pan­ies. Just two hours from Par­is, Nor­mandy offers an inspir­ing envir­on­ment, where nature, cul­ture and his­tory come togeth­er to provide the ideal set­ting for busi­ness events.

What is business tourism?

Busi­ness tour­ism cov­ers all activ­it­ies related to busi­ness travel, includ­ing con­gresses, sem­inars, con­ven­tions, con­fer­ences and cor­por­ate events. Unlike leis­ure travel, busi­ness tour­ism focuses on pro­fes­sion­al object­ives, such as train­ing, net­work­ing, product launches or com­pany gen­er­al meetings.

Busi­ness tour­ism often incor­por­ates moments of relax­a­tion and dis­cov­ery to enrich par­ti­cipants’ exper­i­ence. In France, this sec­tor rep­res­ents a major eco­nom­ic lever, gen­er­at­ing spin-offs for the hotel, cater­ing and trans­port indus­tries, as well as numer­ous loc­al ser­vice providers.

Today, com­pan­ies attach increas­ing import­ance to the over­all exper­i­ence offered to par­ti­cipants, includ­ing not only suit­able work spaces, but also enrich­ing ancil­lary activ­it­ies. Ven­ues that offer inspir­ing sur­round­ings, mod­ern infra­struc­tures and eco-respons­ible prac­tices, such as those offered by the Centre Inter­na­tion­al de Deau­ville (CID), per­fectly meet the expect­a­tions of today’s organ­iz­a­tions for effi­cient and mem­or­able busi­ness events.

Dis­cov­er the eco-friendly con­ven­tion cen­ter in France

Normandy’s tourism policy objectives

Under the lead­er­ship of Her­vé Mor­in, Pres­id­ent of the region, Nor­mandy’s tour­ism policy aims to fed­er­ate the 5 con­gress des­tin­a­tions of Bagnole de l’Orne, Caen la mer, Deau­ville, Le Havre and Rouen:

  1. Sup­port the qual­i­fic­a­tion and mar­ket­ing of the Nor­mandy offer: qual­i­fy incom­ing requests for quo­ta­tions, not­ably by work­ing on the ref­er­en­cing and vis­ib­il­ity of MICE offers and des­tin­a­tions on the Internet.
  2. Pro­mote and fed­er­ate the net­work: Nor­mandy is mul­tiply­ing its ini­ti­at­ives to pos­i­tion the region as a choice des­tin­a­tion for busi­ness tour­ism, by fed­er­at­ing its key play­ers: Educ­tours, col­lect­ive events… use­ful moments for shar­ing know­ledge and best practices.
  3. Pro­mote the region­al MICE industry through the Nor­man­die Meet­ings & Events brand: qual­i­fic­a­tion of cus­tom­er data­base, par­ti­cip­a­tion in nation­al trade shows and work­shops, meas­ur­ing the impact of actions, work on web show­cases, design of innov­at­ive com­mu­nic­a­tion media, etc.

Deauville: a showcase for business tourism in Calvados

Nor­mandy is com­mit­ted to pro­mot­ing eco-respons­ible prac­tices to attract com­pan­ies con­cerned about their envir­on­ment­al impact. By favor­ing pub­lic trans­port, short-dis­tance cater­ing and low-impact infra­struc­tures, the region aims to pos­i­tion itself as a mod­el of sus­tain­able tourism.

Loc­ated in Cal­va­dos, Deau­ville is one of Nor­mandy’s most pop­u­lar des­tin­a­tions for busi­ness tour­ism. Its excep­tion­al set­ting between sea and nature makes it an attract­ive loc­a­tion for com­pan­ies wish­ing to com­bine pro­fes­sion­al effi­ciency with moments of relax­a­tion. Here are Deau­ville’s main assets for busi­ness tourism:

  1. Easy access from Par­is: just two hours by train from the cap­it­al, Deau­ville offers rap­id access for com­pan­ies based in and around Par­is. This prox­im­ity makes the town ideal for both one-day events and multi-day stays.
  2. An inspir­ing and exot­ic set­ting: with its beach, charm­ing vil­las and eleg­ant atmo­sphere, Deau­ville offers a set­ting that is both inspir­ing and sooth­ing. It’s a par­tic­u­larly pop­u­lar ven­ue for con­gresses, sem­inars and con­fer­ences, invit­ing reflec­tion and strength­en­ing team bonds out­side the usu­al urb­an setting.
  3. High-qual­ity hotels: the city boasts a num­ber of top-class hotels that are ideally suited to the demands of busi­ness tour­ism. Wheth­er for exten­ded stays or large-scale con­ven­tions, Deau­ville offers a wide range of accom­mod­a­tion to suit all types of event, from small sem­inars to major conventions.
  4. Team-build­ing and relax­a­tion activ­it­ies: Deau­ville is fam­ous for its unique activ­it­ies, ran­ging from sea regat­tas to rounds of golf, as well as tast­ing work­shops for loc­al products such as cider and cheese. These activ­it­ies allow par­ti­cipants to immerse them­selves in Nor­mandy cul­ture while bond­ing with their colleagues.

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The role of the Centre International de Deauville (CID) in business tourism in Normandy

Le C.I.D en début de soirée

In the heart of Deau­ville, the Centre Inter­na­tion­al de Deau­ville (CID) is a major play­er in busi­ness tour­ism in Nor­mandy. With its ideal seafront loc­a­tion and mod­ern facil­it­ies, it attracts numer­ous nation­al and inter­na­tion­al events every year. Here’s why CID Deau­ville has become a bench­mark for pro­fes­sion­al event organizers:

  1. Mod­u­lar, ultra-mod­ern spaces: the Deau­ville Con­ven­tion Cen­ter offers over 18,000 m² of mod­u­lar space, mak­ing it pos­sible to host a wide range of events, from small sem­inars for 50 people to con­ven­tions with sev­er­al thou­sand par­ti­cipants. Its rooms are equipped with the latest audi­ovisu­al tech­no­lo­gies and high-speed Inter­net con­nec­tions, essen­tial for hybrid or face-to-face events.
  2. A pres­ti­gi­ous sea­side loc­a­tion: with its breath­tak­ing views over the Eng­lish Chan­nel, the Nor­mandy con­ven­tion cen­ter CID Deau­ville brings an excep­tion­al dimen­sion to events. This pres­ti­gi­ous loc­a­tion attracts organ­izers look­ing for a set­ting that will leave a last­ing impres­sion and add a mem­or­able touch to their par­ti­cipants’ experience.
  3. A com­mit­ment to sus­tain­able devel­op­ment: the Centre Inter­na­tion­al de Deau­ville pro­motes eco-respons­ible prac­tices to min­im­ize the eco­lo­gic­al impact of its events. Wheth­er by redu­cing waste, optim­iz­ing energy con­sump­tion or using loc­al products, the cen­ter is com­mit­ted to redu­cing its impact for more envir­on­ment­ally-friendly activities.
  4. Per­son­al­ized sup­port for organ­izers: CID Deau­ville stands out for its cus­tom­er ser­vice, offer­ing com­pre­hens­ive sup­port to com­pan­ies and event agen­cies, from plan­ning to exe­cu­tion. Thanks to a ded­ic­ated team, organ­izers bene­fit from per­son­al­ized advice to cre­ate a unique event, wheth­er in the choice of ven­ues, logist­ics, or the selec­tion of ancil­lary activities.

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Business tourism and eco-responsibility

Eco-respons­ib­il­ity has become a cent­ral ele­ment in the organ­iz­a­tion of pro­fes­sion­al events, and busi­ness tour­ism in Nor­mandy is a per­fect example. In response to grow­ing envir­on­ment­al con­cerns and cor­por­ate demand for more sus­tain­able events, the region, and in par­tic­u­lar the Centre Inter­na­tion­al de Deau­ville (CID), is integ­rat­ing eco-respons­ible prac­tices into every stage of event design and management.

Deauville, gateway to Normandy: a region rich in discoveries

By organ­iz­ing an event in Deau­ville, com­pan­ies enable their teams to dis­cov­er the riches of Nor­mandy, a region with an excep­tion­al cul­tur­al and his­tor­ic­al her­it­age. Not-to-be-missed sites include:

  • The D‑Day land­ing beaches: a his­tor­ic­al vis­it that can be integ­rated into a team-build­ing pro­gram, bring­ing an edu­ca­tion­al and memori­al dimension.
  • Hon­fleur, Étretat and Mont-Saint-Michel: emblem­at­ic sites of the region that can enrich the pro­gram of a sem­in­ar or convention.
  • Cider and cheese routes: for a culin­ary pro­gram out­side meet­ings, an immer­sion in loc­al gast­ro­nomy allows you to dis­cov­er Nor­mandy products while sup­port­ing the loc­al economy.

Thanks to polit­ic­al vis­ion and a com­bin­a­tion of oth­er factors, Nor­mandy is gradu­ally becom­ing a bench­mark for busi­ness tour­ism in France. By com­bin­ing qual­ity infra­struc­tures, a wide range of ser­vices and a com­mit­ment to eco-respons­ib­il­ity, the region is meet­ing the expect­a­tions of busi­nesses and pro­fes­sion­als look­ing for a place that com­bines inspir­ing sur­round­ings with a warm wel­come. This stra­tegic invest­ment, both for the loc­al eco­nomy and for Nor­mandy’s image, is help­ing to estab­lish the region as one of Europe’s lead­ing busi­ness destinations.

The CID Deau­ville offers a unique com­bin­a­tion of mod­ern infra­struc­tures, a priv­ileged loc­a­tion and recog­nized event expert­ise. With its var­ied capa­city and cus­tom­er-focused approach, the cen­ter is a must for com­pan­ies look­ing for a mem­or­able and effi­cient ven­ue for their events. Choos­ing Deau­ville and the CID means opt­ing for a stim­u­lat­ing set­ting, con­du­cive to both work and dis­cov­ery, with per­son­al­ized sup­port to ensure the suc­cess of every event.

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