Equiphotel Paris: visitor navigation strategy

The Full Story

Equiphotel Paris is one of Europe's leading hospitality industry trade events, held biennially at Porte de Versailles. With exhibitors and products spread across seven halls over three floors — approximately 100,000 sqm of venue space — navigation is one of the defining factors in whether a visitor has a good experience. For several years running, post-event surveys had flagged it as a top source of dissatisfaction.

The event team faced a specific tension. Physical signage costs had been scrutinised and the signage budget trimmed. At the same time, visitor complaints were persistent. The question on the table was whether a well-designed digital solution could compensate for reduced signage spend without making the experience worse — or whether the evidence would actually argue the other way.

We developed a multi-channel strategy centred on a clearly-branded "Navigation App" featuring an interactive floorplan with search, categories and directions. This was supported by a network of visible concierge hosts positioned at high-traffic points — entrances, hall junctions, and information points — acting as a human fallback for visitors who wouldn't reach for their phone. The app was actively promoted at registration, at entry points, and through QR codes placed around the venue.

The critical decision was to invest in evidence alongside delivery. We engaged the Global Research team to run structured onsite interviews with visitors during the event — not a quick satisfaction survey, but a proper qualitative programme designed to capture how visitors actually navigated the event, where they got stuck, and how they felt about the digital and physical solutions they encountered. The goal was to make the next investment decision on the basis of evidence rather than assumption.

The immediate result was a doubling of navigation app adoption year-on-year. The research output was arguably more valuable in the longer term. It produced a clear, visitor-evidenced view of where the existing approach worked and where it fell short — in particular, reaffirming the continuing importance of physical signage rather than letting digital fully displace it. It also identified specific investments likely to deliver the biggest gains in future editions, including blue-dot indoor positioning to overlay real-time location onto the digital floorplan.

What the team came away with was a multi-year roadmap grounded in visitor evidence — a plan that could be discussed with finance, presented to senior stakeholders, and used to justify continued investment. Navigation shifted from being treated as a recurring cost pressure to being understood as a measurable driver of visitor satisfaction and a legitimate investment priority.