→ Press release Paris 2015 - Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau - 10/01/2015

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5) In 2015, Paris stays one step ahead and the face of the capital for the 2020s takes shape. Its capacity to trans-form itself and to rank alongside the most innovative cities makes it one of the most appealing destinations. The cultural scene is without doubt the destination’s key attraction, with the opening of new prestigious and unusual sites, and the organization of spectacular events. With museums, trendy bars, galleries, design hotels, unique monuments and 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. The Fête de la Musique (music day) and Museum Night, but also Paris Plages — a summer event which transforms parts of the city into a seaside resort, and the Nuit des Musées, or Nuit Blanche with its art performances, not forgetting the traditional Christmas illuminations in all districts. In 2015, prestigious exhibitions will be held throughout the year: High on the agenda for big names and classic exhibitions are Claude Gellée at the Petit Palais, Nicolas Poussin at the Musée du Louvre, Bonnard at Orsay and Velázquez at the Grand Palais. Fans of modern and contemporary art will enjoy the Fiac (22 to 25 October) and Art Paris Art Fair (25 to 29 March) major international trade shows. Some exhibitions will be devoted to leading international artists in disciplines from photography to painting and fashion: Jeff Koons at the Centre Pompidou, Andy Warhol at the Musée d’Art modern de la Ville de Paris; Galliera will devote an exhibition to Jeanne Lanvin, and the Grand Palais to Jean Paul Gaultier. An addition to the design scene, which accounts for the Maison & Objet trade show, the Puces du Design and Designer’s Day, is Paris Design Week (5 to 12 September). Gastronomy is also well represented with the Fooding and Omnivore food festivals, the Fête de la Gastronomie and the event ‘Tous au restaurant’. For the first time, the event Taste of Paris (tasting of signature dishes) will gather the greatest French chefs under the patronage of Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon, under the nave of the Grand Palais.

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 Montmartre to Midnight in Paris.Throughout the year, major sporting events will 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, the Paris Eiffel Jumping (July), the Paris Marathon, and, this year, the World UCI Track Cycling World Championships, at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Football fans will be eagerly-awaiting December 2nd, the date on which the draw for the Euro 2016 will take place.Numerous professional and public trade shows are also programmed: chocolate, agriculture, aviation, which boost the city’s image as an essential destination.

PARISSimply Amazing!

→ Press release Paris 2015 - Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau - 10/01/2015

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As a prominent cultural city, Paris has in recent years opened new cultural venues: Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design, the Fondation Louis Vuitton for contemporary art, the Carreau du Temple and the newly redeveloped Musée Picasso. 2015 will herald the opening of the Philharmonie de Paris (January), a huge concert hall desi-gned by Jean Nouvel in the Parc de la Villette, the reopening of the Musée de l’Homme (November), after major renovation work; the reopening of the Musée du Montparnasse and the inauguration of new galleries at the Palace of Versailles, which will coincide with the 300th anniversary of the death of Louis XIV. Plenty for all art buffs! 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 have important new infrastructures (major modernization project for the Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles in summer 2015, a project for a new congress centre, etc.).

PARIS IS CAPTIVATING largely due to the quality of its lifestyle, which is reinvented daily. As regards the hotel scene, the capacity and diversity of establishments are constantly increasing. Upscale hotels that have given the capital its reputation vie with one another in terms of innovation to captivate visitors and Parisians. The fact that major foreign hotel groups have chosen to open in the French capital shows just how attractive Paris is. As for the historic palace hotels, renovation and refurbishment is ongoing and their new splendour will soon be unveiled: the Ritz, the Hôtel de Crillon, Le Lutétia … Today, Paris boasts more and more innovative, surprising and themed hotels offering new experiences for a stay. Of note, the 5 Codet, the Dupont-Smith, the Mareuil, the 123 Sébastopol, the Crayon Rouge and the Citadines Suites Arc de Triomphe apartment hotel …

On the gastronomy scene, chefs offer new restaurants with ever more creative cuisine, like for example, Eric Frechon at the Gare Saint-Lazare, Yannick Alléno at the Bourse or Jean-François Piège at Clover, and Guy Savoy at the Monnaie de Paris. The ‘bistronomy’ trend continues and many more restaurants are opening. These new venues seek to be experts 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!

→ Press release Paris 2015 - Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau - 10/01/2015

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Paris is still resoundingly and forever the capital of fashion, luxury … and shopping! The winter and summer sales are the highlights in this key sector, which throughout the year offers new stores and other attractions to appeal to clients in search of something new. Sunday has also become synonymous with shopping, with the exceptional opening of shops in seven tourist areas including Montmartre, the Marais and the Champs-Élysées, districts with a high-concentration of clothes brands (Longchamp, Fendi, Gucci, Moncler …). All the big interna-tional fashion houses love Paris and prestigious labels boast boutiques with ever more edgy and ambitious design, and a raft of services for clients. Every district has a varied 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. Paris is even more fun and sociable in the evening. Parisian style, the mix of genres and periods … There is some-thing for all tastes in the capital, from the newly-made-over bar of the Prince de Galles to the recent Faust and Wanderlust, by the Seine River. New venues are always opening, creating a vibrant Parisian nightlife scene, from the Victoria 1836 to the Recyclerie.

PARIS INNOVATES WITH CREATIVE TOURISM. Cultural sites in Paris attract more and more visitors, with millions of entries recorded every year. Temporary exhibitions are also hugely popular and every year draw record visitor numbers.Paris devotes special attention to the growing trend in participative sustainable and creative tourism. The website creativeparis.info has hundreds of offers for creative tourism. Tourists can get information on the exceptional variety of programmes (in the arts & crafts, fashion, and cooking.) This dynamic activity is embracing 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.

PARIS, A GREEN AND ECO-RESPONSIBLE DESTINATION. In addition to its 460 public parks and gardens, Paris offers tourists major ecological assets to take advantage of. Non-motorized forms of transport are encou-raged: creation of bus lanes, extension of the Paris tramway, development of the Vélib’ network, and Autolib’, 16 century-old but highly-efficient metro lines, etc. The redevelopment of the riverside expressways and the Place de la République also part of a new, greener and more dynamic vision of Paris in tune with the new pace of life of Parisians and visitors. The protection of the environment continues to gain ground in the hotel industry with ecolo-gical labels like Green Key, Ecolabel and Green Globe being awarded to more and more Parisian hotels. Moreover, in 2015 sustainable and environmental issues will be at the forefront in Paris as the world conference Paris Climat 2015 - COP 21 will be held in the capital at the end of the year.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.).

→ Press release Paris 2015 - Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau - 10/01/2015

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PARIS IS CHANGING. Every day, the city pushes its boundary limits a little further. The capital establishes links with neighbouring communes: north-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 Porte des Lilas. The capital’s urban planning and architectural ambitions are evident in major building projects: a canopy in the district of Les Halles whose transformation continues, a redeveloped Beaugrenelle district, and new buildings (new Palais de Justice [law courts], 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 redeveloped 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, are just a few examples and are a continuation of the transformations and changes already taking place in the capital.

PARIS IN FIGURES→ Key figures for Parisian tourism∙ 2 airports; 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

PRESS CONTACT

+33 (0) 1 49 52 53 27 – press@parisinfo.comMore information: http://presse.parisinfo.comAccess to photo library: http:// pro.photos.parisinfo.com/en/

Photos: OTCP / Marc Bertrand, Amélie Dupont, Jocelyne Genri, Daniel Thierry ; Fondation Louis Vuitton / Todd Eberle; Plaza Athénée / Éric Laignel; Wanderlust; Centre Pompidou; Grand Palais; Musée du Louvre; Philharmonie de Paris / Arte Factory; SNCF; Palais de Justice / Renzo Piano; Canopée des Halles / P. Berger et J. Anziutti Architectes; Monnaie de Paris.

→ Press release Paris 2015 - Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau - 10/01/2015

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→ Why choose Paris?∙ For its attractive prices1 sandwich: €5; 1 croissant: €11 coffee: €2/ 1 menu: €151 metro ticket: €1.8014 free museums

∙ For heritage37 bridges10,100 tons of steel in the Eiffel Tower465 parks and gardens2,000 animal species6,500 years of history

∙ For culture120 statues in the Tuileries Gardens36,000 works exhibited at the Louvre200 churches13.6 million visitors to Notre-Dame

∙ For shopping17,500 shops, 4 department stores12% tax refund for non-European visitors69 days of sales each year

∙ For eventsMore than 300 every day1.3 million people in the streets for Nuit Blanche1,500 tons of sand for Paris Plages

∙ For entertainment450 performances at the Opéra de Paris2,300 bottles of champagne uncorked every evening in cabarets10,000 bars and restaurants500 films showing every day100 boat cruises every day

∙ For trends25,000 artists living and working in ParisMore than 950 film shoots every year in Paris 100 countries represented during the Paris fashion shows,with 15,000 designers and manufacturers

∙ For business meetingsMore than 1,000 congresses listed in 201415 congress and exhibition centresMore than 600,000 m² of exhibition space

→ Press release Paris 2015 - Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau - 10/01/2015

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THE PARIS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAUParis, the world’s leading tourist destination, is as attractive 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 600,000 visitors welcomed at the permanent informationcentres in 2014∙ 1 main welcome office designed by architect Christian Biecher.Located in the heart of the French capital, between the Louvre Museumand the Palais Garnier Opera House: 25, rue des Pyramides, Paris 1st∙ 5 information points throughout Paris for a closer proximity to visitors:Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord, Anvers, Gare de l’Est, Paris Expo – Portede Versailles.

∙ Some 15 million visits to the website www.parisinfo.com in 2014 ; 4 main websites in English, French, Spanish and German and 7 mini sites in Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean∙ Some 400,000 free guidebooks for the general public, in French and English: city discovery guide Paris for You!, and the brochure Visiting Paris.

→ Resources available to tourism trade professionals∙ 1 photo library in French, English, Spanish and German4,000 high-resolution photos that reflect the diversity of the destination, to illustrate articles and brochures http://pro.photos.parisinfo.com/en/∙ 1 press release, available in several languages∙ 1 fully-comprehensive Paris 2015 information kit comprising:

3 ‘Art and Culture’ files, in English and French 5 ‘Parisian Lifestyle’ files, available in several languages2 ‘Paris in all Seasons’ files, in English and French3 ‘Paris on request’ files, in English and French

∙ 1 bilingual French/English e-newsletter4 rubrics: Inaugurations / Trends / In the spotlight / Business tourism (Conventions & Incentives)∙ 6 Paris posters (format 60 x 80 cm)