RX France, the organiser of MAPIC, has announced that leisure and food and beverage (F&B) will be the focus of the 2023 event, which is taking place from 28-30 November in Cannes, France.
MAPIC 2023 will feature two specialised zones, LeisurUp by MAPIC and The Happetite Forum. Here, delegates can discover insights from new research and see speakers from leading international brands such as Netflix, Tomorrowland Leisure and Big Mamma Group.
The event will explore the most recent advancements and emerging concepts in the location-based entertainment (LBE) and F&B sectors. Top brands will share their plans, offering delegates insights into how destinations are changing their strategies to take advantage of emerging opportunities.
LeisurUp by MAPIC
Tomorrowland Leisure, a division of the worldwide Tomorrowland music festival, will be featured as a speaker in the conference programme for the first time at LeisurUp by MAPIC, which is devoted to the location-based entertainment (LBE) industry.
The organisation will present its project, LIFE, an aqua park resort concept with a first project development in Poland-Kownaty, 30 kilometres from the border with Germany. This attraction will embody the spirit of the Tomorrowland music festival, in a celebration of joy, wonder, and human encounters.
Global streaming platform Netflix will also be making its debut at the event. Christine Wacker, director of business development – consumer products experiences and live experiences at Netflix, will present a keynote at 2.30 pm on Tuesday 28 November. Wacker will share insights into how to harness some of the world’s most renowned IPE into out-of-home and leisure-based experiences, drawing on her experience of Netflix’s expansion into new markets.
The firm has released its original concepts such as Stranger Things: The Encounter in Singapore, Money Heist (La Casa De Papel) Experience in Saudi Arabia, Stranger Things immersive retail in Brazil, and Squid Game VR at 40 Sandbox locations around the world.
Ahead of the event, MAPIC has released a new leisure whitepaper, produced in partnership with Leisure Development Partners. The whitepaper investigates how entertainment may increase foot traffic outside of a conventional retail catchment, draw more visitors at night and for longer periods of time, and establish tenant mix with a focus on maximum impact.
The research has found that if there are entertainment and socialising options, 54% of 18 to 25-year-olds and 40% of 26 to 35-year-olds will visit a city centre or retail centre more frequently. Looking more closely at entertainment options, it found that cinemas and indoor gardens have multi-generational appeal, while competitive socialising, FECs and bowling attract significantly more interest from Gen Z and millennial audiences.
The Happetite Forum by MAPIC
The Happetite Forum by MAPIC is an international F&B sector event that seeks to boost restaurant chain expansion into retail and urban settings.
Delegates will be able to learn about emerging trends, from consumers’ growing focus on sustainability and ethical practices to the development of dining concepts and formats, through a range of specialised conference and networking events. The programme will include some of the fastest-growing restaurant brands from around the world, with sessions that will offer insights into how they are evolving, and how destinations are changing in response.
Tigrane Seydoux, one of the Big Mamma group’s founders, will give the keynote to open the Forum’s programme on 29 November from 10 am to 10.30 am. Seydoux will discuss the company’s ambitions for the future of the restaurant industry, and reveal the key issues it will confront in the years to come. Big Mamma Group, which Seydoux founded with Victor Lugger in 2013, operates over 20 trattorias, as well as independent bars and food markets, in London, France, Germany, and Spain.
Its restaurants, which specialise in authentic Italian dishes, are committed to making delicious food accessible to everyone. Big Mamma Group is a ‘B Corporation,’ recognised not only for its CSR programmes but also for the practical impact and beneficial contributions it makes.
MAPIC educational partner Whitespace Partners conducted dedicated research into the F&B sector, analysing 50 brands and 140 international developments to gain a better understanding of what concepts are succeeding in which countries – and in what style of retail unit.
According to the whitepaper, franchise development was the preferred strategy for growth, followed by direct development and joint venture structures. Industry experts such as John Eckbert, CEO of Five Guys Europe, Michael Kark, chief global licencing officer at Shake Shack, and Stéphane Klein, managing director of Pret A Manger (Europe) contributed to the study.
The research resulted in nine principles designed to support restaurant brands embarking on international expansion: be objective in strategic decision-making; think like a local; learn from the past and failures; know your competitors; people make it happen; choose the right growth model; set your real estate and supply chain strategy; get your team ready; and create visibility.
RX France recently launched the MAPIC Academy Challenge, a new retail brand incubator created in an exclusive collaboration with Nhood. As part of this start-up incubator competition, MAPIC will support the development of five new retail brands, with a pop-up space and a presence at MAPIC 2023.
