Cannes or Bust: 5 years of inside news and tips for visitors to Cannes

Jan. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Cannes, France, is one of the world’s foremost trade fair towns, with major events such as MIPIM, MAPIC, MIP and MIDEM drawing sometimes over 20,00 professionals each time. Despite the vast amount of information available for tourists, the town had never been covered for professional visitors.

Long-time Cannes visitor Michael Leahy developed the site Cannes or Bust to provide fellow visitors with inside information about how to reach the town, survive the hectic fairs and network. “It’s all in the name, really. Back in January 2006, the only place you could get relevant information was from colleagues who had been there,” he says. “I can remember looking at a map of the town and wondering how I could ever choose a hotel.”

The early pages covered the basics of reaching and staying in Cannes. More recent developments have further increased the scope of the site. “Having so many contacts inside Cannes and the events means that Cannes or Bust is often amongst the first with breaking news,” says Leahy. “But the real added value comes from the other readers.”

Since adding a Twitter account, Cannes or Bust enables visitors to get party or restaurant tips and also vital updates on transport and weather. When the Icelandic volcano brought many European airports to a halt, Cannes or Bust acted as a relay between stranded visitors that were looking for solution. In one case, a Dutch visitor rented a coach for Belgian and Dutch professionals and drove north.

January 2011 sees Midem coming to town, where the worldwide music community meets to do business. As the music industry was the first to suffer the many changes digital media involve, it is an interesting place to discover ideas and business solutions that will later be applied to movies and publishing. Like the town itself, Cannes or Bust’s biggest peaks in traffic are during the legendary Cannes Film Festival.

Cannes or Bust is followed by a number of phone apps, so increasing its reach. “You come to Cannes to network, meet people and discover new ideas. Cannes or Bust plays the same role in its own modest way,” says Leahy.

To keep abreast of the many events at Cannes, visit http://Cannes-or-Bust.com

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Copywriting and PR for European business from Brussels, Belgium. Specialised in entertainment and media sectors.