The Avignon area, comprising
two regional administrative districts, Provence-Alpes-Côte
d’Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon
and three departments, Vaucluse, Gard
and Bouches-du-Rhône, has a population of
some 458,500 and is administered from the Avignon Town Hall. In
addition, 32 communes in the surrounding area, comprising some 250,000
inhabitants, rely on Avignon for their employment.
Avignon
is centrally located and has easy access to Marseilles,
Lyon and Paris, just a 50-minute
drive from Marseilles, two hours from Lyon and, with the new TGV
Méditerranée, two hours and 40 minutes from Paris.
Avignon also boasts an immense cultural wealth, in terms of monuments
and includes the UNESCO-listed Palais des Papes
and the international Theatre Festival. These factors
play an important role in the development of tourism , which is
extremely important to Avignon’s economy. Chemicals, packaging,
construction, agriculture, metals and precision instruments are
the other industries in the area, while food and the production
of appellation contrôlée wine also have a strong tradition
in the region. There are now some 7,000 companies in and around
Avignon, many located at the new site of Courtine,
which extends across 300 hectares (741 acres) around the TGV station.
Local government, SNCF railways and EDF
electricity are the main employers in Avignon, while there are numerous
also many small businesses – bakeries, patisseries and retail
outlets. The university (with 8,000 students) has kept the population
within the city young. The inauguration of Avignon’s TGV station
has helped to develop the Courtine district, located south of Avignon
Centre. Projects are underway to bring businesses (including the
headquarters of food manufacturer La Durance) and
hotels in to the area.
Unemployment in Avignon, as throughout France, is on the decline.
The most recent statistics show the unemployment rate for the Vaucluse,
which includes Avignon, standing at 10.4 per cent, slightly higher
than France’s average at 9 per cent (March 2003).
Business Etiquette
Avignon
feels far away from Paris and its business practices are markedly
different. Breakfast meetings are rare, only materialising at large
conferences during the Theatre Festival.
Standard
business hours in Avignon: Monday
to Friday 0900-1800 hrs.
Normally, meetings are fixed for mid-morning or mid-afternoon, while
lunch meetings usually only involve colleagues already involved
on a joint project. Punctuality is not expected and being 15 minutes
late is standard practice. No excuse is necessary other than saying
‘J’ai eu un retard’ (‘I was delayed’).
In other respects, conducting business in Avignon is quite a formal
affair. Meetings should be confirmed in writing and colleagues addressed
by their surname. Smart dress is appropriate. Businesswomen should
take heart from the fact that the city’s dynamic mayor is
a woman, Marie-Josée Roig. It is unlikely
that business visitors will be invited for drinks or to homes at
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