France is still the most popular tourist destination with 74 million foreign visitors in 2009. Yet France is also a top choice for business tourism, as evidenced by specialized trade shows Réunir and Top Résa, to be held in Paris September 21-24.
In 2008, over 34,000 exhibitors from businesses based outside France attended 490 trade shows and 68 fairs that drew nearly 775,000 foreign visitors. These events included a number of international events like the Batimat International Building Trade Show (2,280 exhibitors including 45% from abroad, 288,450 visitors, 29,100 of whom were foreign visitors), the global meet for the agric-food industry SIAL (147,850 visitors from 185 countries) and the Vinexpo wine exhibition in Bordeaux (2,235 exhibitors, 67,600 visitors, including 26,000 foreign visitors). There are also professional trade shows open to the general public, such as the Paris Air Show, the Paris Motor Show, and the International Agriculture Show.
