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Day: 22 March 2024

Monaco’s broadcasting evolution and the role of Télé Monte-Carlo explored in new exhibition

by: Niki Borisova
22/03/2024

Drawing on resources stored in the Palace archives and at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco has created a fascinating new exhibition that explores the rich history of broadcasting in the Principality and retells the story of Télé Monte-Carlo for a new audience.

Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC), which was founded by Prince Rainier III in 1954, was a key part of the evolution of broadcasting in – and media coverage of – Monaco for two decades.

Although it was taken off air in 1974, the platform had a profound impact on how Monaco was perceived in the French-speaking world, and the new exhibition from the Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco explores this influence as well as the innovations that TMC introduced.

TMC’s creative evolution

The exhibition draws on records kept by the Palace archives and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France to highlight TMC’s technological and creative milestones.

It reveals how TMC carved its niche despite competition, thanks in large part to the vision of Jacques Antoine, a television producer who led TMC’s programming during its height. Known for his strategic focus on engaging and varied content, Antoine’s approach balanced entertainment with relaxation and helped to grow the channel’s popularity and influence.

Visitors to the exhibition will also discover TMC’s innovative strategies, such as outdoor broadcasting, community engagement, the integration of cinema into television and the production of diverse content, from talk shows to game shows.

The exhibition, which formally opens to the public on 25th March, will run until 31st January 2025. To visit, head to 83/85 Boulevard du Jardin Exotique between 10am and 5pm during the week. An English-language guide to the exhibition will be available at the front desk.

See more in our Instagram reel below…

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Photo credit: institut-audiovisuel.mc

ClicBus: Monaco launches on demand bus service for areas not served by regular routes

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/03/2024
clicbus

A new on demand mini-bus service in Monaco is set to vastly improve public transportation in underserviced parts of the Principality. Here’s how the ClicBus app and network will work. 

Monaco might be small in size, but for many people living here, public transport can be a lifeline and makes getting around the hilly Principality considerably easier than travelling on foot.  

In the Plati, Fleurs and Annonciade areas, however, public transport is virtually non-existent. To rectify this problem, Monaco has developed a new system, ClicBus, which will allow users to summon a bus to a stop closest to them and travel to one to four central locations: Place d’Armes, the Fontvieille Shopping Centre, the Monte-Carlo Tourism Office and Place des Moulins.

FOR INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS 

Electric mini-buses with eight to 20 passenger seats will form the fleet.  

Passengers can order a bus via the ClicBus app or by calling a designated phone number advertised at various bus stops served by the service. A bus will then come and collect the individual or group and take them on to their stop of choice from the pre-assigned list.

 

The service, which will be up and running from 25th March, will be available from 7am to 9.20pm seven days a week. A special night service from all bus stops in the Principality will extend these hours until 1.30am during the week and until 2.30am on weekends. The government has confirmed that these hours may be lengthened during summer months subject to need. 

The service, which is being operated by Compagnie des Autobus de Monaco, was created at the instigation of the Prince’s Government and will cost the same all local bus lines. 

From 23rd March, it will also replace the CAM 7 line.  

Tickets can be purchased on the bus or with the use of a standard CAM network subscription. 

For more information, click here. 

Read related:

Monaco addresses its transport issues: New direct bus from Fontvieille to Larvotto to be trialled

 

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Economy: Revenues exceed €20 billion for the first time in Monaco 

by: Elsa Carpenter
22/03/2024
monaco economy

2023 was a year of strong growth for the Monaco economy, with revenues exceeding €20 billion for the first time in history. 

According to the most recent economic report for 2023, which was released by Monaco’s statistical agency IMSEE on 15th March, revenues in the Principality rose by more than €1 billion in 2023, when compared to 2022, taking the total over the threshold of €20 billion for the very first time.  

The financial and insurance activities sector was the biggest success story, improving its revenues by an incredible 86.8% during last year to generate just over €4.5 billion. 

The scientific and technical activities sector, which includes administrative and support services, also noted a considerable uptick in revenue of 33%, which came on the back of an increase of 18% in 2022. According to the IMSEE report, the rise was due in large part to the near doubling of revenues achieved by quantity surveyors in the Principality. In total, the sector created €4.3 billion in revenue – adding more than €1.1 billion to its 2022 figures.

See more: Science and technical activities companies are Monaco’s biggest private sector employers

Revenues in the hospitality sector, designated in IMSEE’s report as accommodation and food, increased by close to 15% during 2023 and came within touching distance of the €1 billion mark.

See more: Monaco’s tourism sector in 2023: Hotel prices hit new record

Construction too had something of a boom, growing its revenues by 12% or €2.8 billion in total.  

According to the report, “Almost two thirds of this increase came from the development and selling of dwellings (+€187 million), mainly generated by a single economic agent.” 

However, in the affiliated real estate sector, revenue was down by 16.3% due to the fall in the volume of property transactions that dogged 2023 all year long. 

Overall foreign trade up, but exports down 

Although wholesale trade maintained its dominating status as the major economic sector with the highest turnover in Monaco, its revenues decreased by a full 10% in 2023.  

The overall volume of foreign trade in the Principality last year – €3.7 billion – came close to achieving the €3.8 billion record set in 2019. This equates to a 5.4% year-on-year rise.  

Imports swelled by just over 11% to €2.4 billion, but exports contracted by 4.6% on 2022’s figures, amounting in the end to €1.2 billion.

 

The European Union’s export share dropped by 1.9 points, according to IMSEE’s data, but Italy, Germany and Switzerland – in that order – continue to be Monaco’s principal customers. 

On the other side of the coin, imports from the UK rose sharply by more than 33% in 2023, making it the Principality’s “second largest supplier, ahead of Germany and behind Italy”. 

To read the 2023 Monaco Economy report for yourself, click here.  

Read related:

Real Estate: Why did property sales fall by 20% in Monaco in 2023?

 

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Photo by Monaco Life

France becomes world’s first country to legislate limits on fast fashion

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/03/2024

The days of fast fashion may be coming to a close in France, if a new law passed on 15th March is as effective as hoped at striking blows on cheap mass producers by making their products less appealing to buyers. 

As the French clothing and accessories market, like so many others in Europe and elsewhere around the world, continues to be inundated with inexpensive imported items, the government has decided to take action with the passing of a new law borne from a concept put forwards by a 31-year-old member of the Les Républicains party, Antoine Vermorel-Marques. 

Vermorel-Marques is one of a number of French politicians who have spoken out against fast fashion. In a widely circulated clip posted on Tik Tok in February, he hit out at the damage that fast fashion brands are having on the environment as well as highlighting the potential dangers cheaply produced clothes, shoes and other accessories pose to human health, noting the extensive and unregulated use of chemicals in the production processes employed by brands such as Shein and Temu.  

@antoinevermorel42 🛑 Les vêtements à 2€ qui arrivent en avion, contiennent des substances nocives pour la santé et finissent sur les plages en Afrique, c’est non ! Je dépose à l’Assemblée nationale une proposition de loi pour instaurer un bonus-malus afin de pénaliser les marques et pour encourager les démarches plus vertueuses ♻️ #shein#sheinhaul#ecologie#fastfashion#stopshein#pourtoi#fyp @lookbookaly @menezangel_ @loufitlove @lila_drila @cilia.ghass @tifanywallemacq @veronika_cln @lia__toutcourt @iamm_mae.e@IAMM_MAE.E ♬ son original – antoinevermorel

Another concerning factor of fast fashion is the impact the industry is having on domestic French brands, which are finding themselves priced out of the market.  

TRENDSETTERS 

In mid March, France became the first country in the world to go so far as to pass legislation “to limit the excesses of ultra-fast fashion”, as put by the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu.  

In the coming weeks and months, a decree listing the measures to be taken will be formalised. For now, it appears that these will include advertising bans on some of the worst offenders as well as an environmental surcharge of €5 per item. This is expected to rise gradually to €10 per item by 2030.  

According to the government, the proceeds from this tax will be used to financially help sustainable French producers, thus giving them a more competitive edge.

 

The government will also monitor the volumes of items produced as well as the rates of turnover from companies to help determine what can be deemed as fast fashion and what action should be taken.  

HORIZONS-LED 

The draft law was formally submitted by Horizons, the centre-right party founded in 2021 by Edouard Philippe, which has publicly condemned the fast fashion industry as a serious polluter. 

The sector is blamed for 10% of the world’s total CO2 emissions and is known to be a major source of water pollution.  

Read related:

The cost of fast fashion: France to consider adding a dissuasive surcharge to cheap imported purchases

 

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Photo source: Sarah Brown, Unsplash