Franchise Expo Paris, which took place from 22 to 25 March at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, welcomed 35,538 visitors and 530 exhibitors over four days. The exhibition, organised by Reed Expositions and the French Franchise Federation, consolidated its position as the leading franchise event in Europe and across the globe, with a 30% increase in international visitors.

Steady growth – key figures:

• 35,538 visitors, representing stable attendance
• 528 exhibitors (+6.67%)
• 447 brands from 79 business sectors, compared with 429 in 2014 (+2.9%)
• 120 talks and workshops on starting a franchise business and becoming a franchisee, with a total of almost 9,000 attendees
• 25 experts (compared with 22 last year)
• 7 banks specialising in franchising
• 28 institutional partners
• 22 media partners
• 23% international exhibitors (117 brands), including pavilions from the US, Spain, Macau, Portugal, South Korea and more.

Confidence-building meetings for entrepreneurs
Visitors flocked to this new session of Franchise Expo Paris in search of information and advice about the franchise business model, both a powerful driver for business start-ups and a resource for those ready for a career change. Through discussions, talks, workshops and personal testimonies, these future entrepreneurs were offered the opportunity to develop or fine-tune their franchise business plans.

This year, 447 brands (representing 79 business sectors), 25 experts, 7 banks and 28 institutional partners were present, providing visitors with support and advice on their business plans.

Typical visitor profiles
48% of the show’s French visitors came from outside Paris, while 52% came from the capital and the Paris region.

Attendance from France stayed stable, while the number of international visitors was up 30% confirming the shows strong global reach. There were over 2,800 international visitors representing 96 nationalities. Most of them came from EU countries, but there was also strong turnout from Morocco, Canada, Switzerland, Tunisia and Israel.

76% of visitors were intending to launch their business within a year – a key reason for attending the show. This figure was 42% higher than in 2014. Visitors spent more time at the event, as shown by an increase in the number of repeat visits.

They came with clear objectives: 70% wanted to gather information about starting a business by becoming a franchisee. 18% of visitors already have experience in starting a business while only 3% have no previous experience in business leadership, management or sales.

28% of the visitors are already retailers (independent retailers or franchisees), over 5% more than in 2014. 50% are salaried employees, 17% are looking to change profession and 4% are students who came to the show to develop their future career plans.

Finally, a third of the future entrepreneurs have sums in excess of €75K to invest (+25% in value terms compared with 2014), and 17% have more than €150K.

Franchise Expo Paris: an international event International federations, associations and delegations travelled to Paris to support the sector and promote the franchise business model in Europe and further afield. There were delegations from Tunisia, Israel and Brazil, among other countries. Spain, Portugal, Quebec, the United Kingdom and Germany were also represented.