There’s a lot going on around Valence, in particular with its Tourism and Conference Office which is now known by the name valencetourisme.com. At the beginning of 2007, the office moved from its old location close to the train station and moved right to the centre of Valence, on the boulevards. The move coincided with the office being granted 4* status, plus the AFNOR standard and disabled-friendly status. However, that’s not all. The organisation, headed up by Nicolas Daragon, who employs about 15 people, further strengthened his sales department by giving it responsibility for managing events and business tourism marketing, along the lines of a travel agency.

We’ve created a close partnership with the Parc des Expositions as well as with all the hotels, restaurants, caterers and room hire providers, explains Émilyne Plantier, sales executive. We’re contacted directly by conference organisers, and we organise in the region of 60 events every year. They involve between 15 and 1000 participants, averaging 150, and we mostly sell the Parc des Expositions, Les Folies du Lac, Maison Pic and the hotels based in the Drôme and northern Ardèche ..

The Parc des Expositions offers a dozen rooms for between 50 and 2000 people, with just one auditorium, able to take 300 people which is sold as a stand-alone package, whilst the other rooms can be arranged to suit the client’s needs. Most of the events in Valence involve the industry and health sectors, continues Émilyne Plantier. We also handle a number of events on behalf of marketing agencies and we also organise our own events such as the Bouquets de Vins tradeshow which is held between 9 and 11 November .