Wine Paris visitors up 21% as CEO changes role
Visitor numbers to Wine Paris 2026 skyrocketed by 21% compared with 2025 as CEO of parent company Vinexposium, Rodolphe Lameyse, revealed he would be stepping into a new role.
Last year, Wine Paris welcomed 52,622 visitors, 45% of whom were international guests from 154 countries.
The 2026 show, which took place from 9-11 February at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in the French capital, reached a new record high with 63,541 visitors. More than half (51%) were international guests from 169 countries.
For the first time in the event’s history, French president Emmanuel Macron officially opened the show.
Speaking at a media briefing at Wine Paris, Lameyse, who has held the position of Vinexposium CEO since 2019, informed the press it would be his last Wine Paris as Vinexposium CEO. Lameyse will move into the position of CEO of the food and beverage division at Comexposium, a joint venture with Vinexpo Holdings.
His progression makes room for two “tried and tested” colleagues at Vinexposium to step into promotions.
Nicolas Cuissard has taken on the position of Wine Paris director, while Grace Ghazale has become the international events director.
“We built the team year after year, by adapting, changing if needed and optimising the organisation,” Lameyse said. “I’m super proud.”
Be Spirits 2026 ‘amazing’
In the dedicated spirits hall – Be Spirits – the show brought together 370 exhibitors from 39 countries, with 53% from overseas. This marked a 28% increase in international exhibitors.
Asked how he felt about this year’s Be Spirits hall, Lameyse enthused: “Amazing. Yesterday [Monday 9 February], I did a tour [of Be Spirits] and I was honestly shocked. It was super packed.
“At the beginning, [Be Spirits] was only small tables and now it’s big booths and very international. I was like, ‘Wow, we did it’, and honestly, I’m super proud of the team because I think they did something really powerful.
“We always say that one day we will reach a show size. We are there. It’s impressive.”
Wine Paris had pledged to provide a platform to discuss geopolitical issues impacting the global alcoholic beverage industry. Among its many events and seminars, three roundtables were dedicated to recently completed free trade agreements between the EU and Mercosur, and the EU and India, plus US tariffs.
In total, Wine Paris delivered 239 conferences, roundtables and masterclasses – including sessions on the new Be Spirits Stage and the Be No Stage, the latter of which took place in the inaugural Be No hall.
A total of 1,894 media representatives from 49 countries (57% international, representing a 25% increase on 2025) were in attendance at Wine Paris 2026.
“Wine Paris 2026 reaffirms its central role for the global drinks industry,” commented Cuissard. “As both a marketplace, a platform for influence and a space for communication, the event has become a structuring meeting point to support the sector’s transformations and help shape its future.”
In 2027, Wine Paris will return from 15 to 17 February.
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