Celia Marrec, our representative for our French sister site – Franchise Directe recently attended the International Franchise Expo in Paris. I spoke with Celia about her experience at the expo and what she feels the atmosphere is like in the French franchise market at present.
Celia said she “got good general feedback from our clients on our website. They are happy with our reactivity and the quality of our website. The franchisors on our site who also attended the expo also received good feedback and made a few contacts with potential franchisees which could lead to new openings in the coming months.”
According to Franchise Expo Paris, there were more than 31,000 visitors for the 2010 French Expo (up 15.5% in comparison to 2009) with 400 companies exhibiting their opportunities. 40% of the visitors were people currently working for a company who have the project of becoming a franchisee (up 66.98% in comparison to 2009). 39% were people who already owned an independent business or who were already franchisees (up 87% in comparison to 2009). 20.4% were people who were unemployed (were working previously for a company) and were looking for a new challenge: becoming franchisee (up 65% in comparison to 2009).
In terms of foreign visitors, a significant number were Moroccan (Morocco was the promoted country chosen by the organizers for the Franchise Expo 2010), followed by Belgian people, Spanish, Italian, British and Canadian. Canada will be the foreign country promoted in 2011.
With the economic climate still unsteady in France, and difficulties still being experienced in securing financing from French banks, the figures above and the feedback Celia received is encouraging for the French franchise industry. Here are a few pics from the Franchise Expo Paris: