Lameyse joined Drinks International at Vinexpo Paris to discuss the situation of its upcoming show in Hong Kong after the breakout of the Coronavirus as well as the success of the first Vinexpo event held in Paris.
"Everything is struggling in China and the rest of Asia because of the situation (with Coronavirus) but I’ve decided at the moment to keep the Hong Kong show scheduled as normal,” said Lameyse. “I think it’s too early to make a definite decision but the show should still happen in May and if things go wrong then we go in July, that’s for sure.”
Vinexpo announced in 2019 that it would be running a joint show alongside Wine Paris for the first time while earlier this year it was announced that the business had made a joint venture with events company Comexposium.
The Vinexpo/Wine Paris show is due to finish today, 12 February, and it is the first time that Vinexpo has run its dedicated spirits section called Be Spirits, which Lameyse plans to grow into its own show.
Lameyse added: “The show’s looking really good. It’s met my expectations but I also see a lot of room for improvement, especially with marketing because we didn’t have any time to really establish new visuals and branding communications since the merger with Comexposium.
“Be Spirits has completely exceeded my expectations, it’s fantastic. I’ve already said I want a standalone show and to see Be Spirits in the flesh is exciting and spirits is the next big thing for Vinexpo.”
This is also the first year which Vinexpo will run two separate events in France with its flagship Bordeaux show set for a new look in 2020.
“Bordeaux is not going to disappear,” added Lameyse. “Bordeaux is a different kind of show and it is still scheduled. As you can imagine having two shows in Paris and Bordeaux would be a nonsense which is why we said Bordeaux is going to be disruptive. It will be integrated within the city and its parks and you should expect something new and exciting.”
