From the gorges of the Ardèche and the ‘thousand lakes’ of the Dombe valley, to the peaks and glaciers of the Alps to the lavender fields of Provence by way of the lush countryside of the Bresse region,

Rhône-Alpes offers a colourful palette of landscapes

With
the world’s largest skiing area with 216 stations (the only region to have hosted the Winter Olympics three times, Europe’s ‘white gold’ capital achieves almost two thirds of its tourist activity in its mountain resorts)
13 lakes of over 100 hectares
16 spa resorts and 7 thermal cure resorts (20 % of French spa customers choose the region)

Water and mountains are the main attractions in the Rhône-Alpes region

9 universities
35 ‘Grandes Ecoles’ (university level high schools)
over 215,000 students
20 % of French engineers study in the region

Rhône-Alpes is an exceptional centre of education

over 20 000 researchers
240 laboratories
20 professionnal technical centres
over 1,000 private research companies

Rhône-Alpes is home to a quarter of the French research industry

With its production
of 40 % of France’s hydroelectricity
a quarter of nuclear electricity
and a fifth of thermal energy

Rhône-Alpes is a major supplier of France’s energy

With
20 % of tourism supplied by the business sector
7 exhibition centres
630 hotels for seminars

Rhône-Alpes is the second major region in France for conferences
Lyon is one of the top 30 European cities for international conferences

the gastronomic specialities of the region and its master chefs, the wines of Beaujolais and the Côtes du Rhône,
top football clubs (Lyon and Saint Etienne), rugby teams (Bourgoin and Grenoble) and basketball squads (Villeurbanne)

all make up the national and international reputation of the Rhône-Alpes region

Mechanics and transformation of metals
leading region for mechanics in France
60 % of the national truck and HGV manufacturing industry

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals sector
the ‘chemical corridor’ to the south of Lyon is a leading platform for chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmacy
the pharmaceutical sector in the region is one of Europe’s leading players in the health industry with many international firms.

Textile industry
the oldest industry in the region
traditional production (silk in Lyon, hosiery in Roanne, furnishing fabrics in Tarare, spinning in Ardèche) is complemented by more innovative specialities: technical fabrics, artificial and synthetic textiles
numerous companies active in the clothing sector (Rhône and Loire) and leather goods (Drome and Ardèche)

Plastics
’Plastic Valley’ (Europe’s largest hub of plastics companies at Oyonnax) accounts for 12 % of France’s total production

Digital and biotechnologies
France’s leading centre for R&D in digital technologies (Lyon-Grenoble)
national leader for biocompatible materials, prostheses, in vitro and bio reactive diagnoses, dialysis material and medical textiles.