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6th International Communicating the Museum Conference
Building Partnerships : How to enlarge audiences
Partners
Antenna Audio
Thalys
In 2006 Thalys celebrates its 10th anniversary!
2 June 1996:
Thalys makes its first commercial journey from Paris to Brussels and Amsterdam. Aachen and Cologne join the Thalys-network in 1997.
The Thalys network serves 4 countries: France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
- France: although its node is Paris, seasonal service ("Thalys Soleil" ("Sun") and "Thalys Neige" ("Snow"))
is also available on the Thalys network.
- Belgium: as the network includes Belgium's main cities, Thalys covers all of Belgium, and also offers a tourist and foreign-visitor-friendly fare to "All Belgian Stations".
Since the spring of 2006, there has been a special Thalys interconnection to Maastricht at Liege (all-in-one tickets available between Paris and Maastricht via Liege).
- The Netherlands: Rotterdam, The Hague, Schiphol, Amsterdam. An "All Dutch Stations" fare is currently being considered.
- Germany: Thalys service is available to and from Aachen and Cologne.
Thalys connects Paris to Brussels in 1 hour and 25 minutes (25 trains daily), Amsterdam and Cologne are now 2 and a half hours from Brussels (5 and 6 trains daily) and approximately 4 hours from Paris (3 hours in 2008).
Over 6 million passengers in 2005, of which 52% were "leisure" travelers (against 48% of business travelers). N.B. 39% of passengers are under 35 and 79% are of working age.
The turnover increased by 5.5% in 2005 for the second consecutive year.
The figure for the first quarter of 2006 is also highly promising: + 8.6%.
A contemporary high-speed version of the legendary international trains, Thalys both responds and contributes to the development of traffic
1. Thalys is helping to define the Europe of tomorrow
- Thalys and its 4 railway partners are currently preparing for the opening of the high-speed lines to Cologne and Amsterdam, further to which both destinations will be 3 hours from Paris and 1 hour and 30 minutes from Brussels in 2008.
2. For this purpose, Thalys is applying a highly innovative and customer-oriented approach to new technologies.
- For instance, Thalys is the first railway operator to have commercially tested on-board two-way high-speed broadband Internet access on its entire network at 300 kph. Other examples include train monitoring by satellite (Localys) and ticketless travel.
- Wi-fi and ticketless travel are now as much a part of Thalys's customer-oriented approach as high speed, regularity and punctuality, or the supply of newspapers, Thalyscope* magazine, and in seat service in Comfort 1.
3. As far as content is concerned, Thalys's approach is inspired. Its watchword is "encourage our customers to travel, whatever their interests".
- "Together with our partners, our goal is to stimulate people's interest and encourage them to explore. Thalys covers an area with 45 million inhabitants, most of which will soon be accessible in less than 3 hours. If you are interested in contemporary art, we can take you to the Centre Pompidou in Paris or the Ludwig Museum in Cologne. Marathon aficionados: if you've been running in Paris, why not Amsterdam?"
Jean-Michel Dancoisne, CEO of Thalys.
www.thalys.com / www.thalystory.com
The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper is a monthly publication based in London and New York, which through its network of sister editions is able to provide an unrivalled news service about the international art world.
We cover the events, people, places, politics, economics and law that shape the visual arts and the context in which they occur. Our readership is a mixture of private individuals and art professionals who need The Art Newspaper because it is their most important source of information, indespensable to their successful dealings in the art world.
Only The Art Newspaper fully illuminates the art world. Reporting on old masters, contemporary and decorative art. Each month you will have a front row seat for debates and controversies. You will be entertained by strong opinions from our expert commentators, and also be able to plan your visits to forthcoming events with our What's On guide.
Shortlisted for 'Team of the Year' - British Press Awards 2006
"Invaluable intelligence on international developments in the art world."
Nicholas Serota, director, Tate, London
Skira
The Skira publishing house was founded by Albert Skira in 1928. The group currently maintains a holding company in Geneva, Switzerland while its head offices are in Milan, Italy in the Palazzo Casati Stampa. Skira produces more than 200 new titles per year in four languages (English, French, Italian, and Spanish) distributed worldwide under the Skira imprint.
An art book publisher par excellence since its inception, the Skira group is one of the major players in the production of museum publications and exhibition catalogues.
The heart of its publishing activity is its collaboration with major museums in Europe and outside of Europe and with international artistic foundations and institutions, for whom Skira prints exhibition catalogues, monographs, catalogues raisonnés, and guides to artistic and cultural sites.
Skira currently has a collaborative relationship with, among others, the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, the Petit Palais in Paris, the Musée d'art et d'histoire of Geneva, the Venice Guggenheim, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek of Copenhagen, the Kunsthal of Rotterdam, the Museo de arte Antiga of Lisbon, the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian of Lisbon, the Museum of Cycladic Art of Athens, the Kunsthistorischesmuseum of Vienna, the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Montréal, Canada, the National Gallery of Washington, and the Museo del Oro of Bogotà.
Skira's international lines are distributed by the following partners:
- the English line is distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Rizzoli New York, which benefits from access to the extensive distribution network of Random House. Elsewhere in the world distribution is handled by Thames & Hudson, a traditional ally and partner of Skira in many publishing undertakings. Its network is directed from London and it has branches on all continents and in all countries, from South Africa to Malaysia and Australia.
- for France and French-speaking countries Skira has a distribution partnership with Flammarion, one of the most prestigious publishing houses in France.
- the Spanish line is distributed in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries by Editorial Gustavo Gili
- Skira is distributed in Italy by RCS Libri, which has a dense coverage of the Italian territory serving over 1,500 sales points.
We also have direct relationships with the foremost museum bookstores in Italy and abroad; we set up an average of 50 bookshops annually at major exhibitions in Italy and abroad; our catalogue is available for consultation of the Web (www.skira.net) and the catalogues of our international lines are included with conference materials.