World City Guide

Business

Business Profile
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 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 (such as the UNESCO-listed Palais des Papes) and the international Theatre Festival. These factors play an important role in the development of tourism (including business tourism), which is extremely important to Avignon’s economy. Chemicals, packaging, construction, agriculture, metals and precision instruments are the other industries in the region, while food and the production of appellation contrôlée wine also have a strong tradition in the area. There are now some 7,000 companies in and around Avignon, many situated 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 small businesses – bakeries, patisseries and retail outlets. The university (with 8,000 students) has kept the city’s population young. The inauguration of Avignon’s TGV station has helped to develop the Courtine district, south of Avignon Centre. Projects are underway to bring businesses (including the headquarters of food manufacturer La Durance) and hotels to the area.

Unemployment in Avignon, as throughout France, is on the way down. The most recent statistics show the unemployment rate for the Vaucluse, which includes Avignon, standing at 10.4%, slightly higher than France’s average at 9% (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 are Monday to Friday 0900-1800. 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, however, 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 first. However, after several meetings, socialising after work becomes more common.