Geographically and politically ‘neutral’, Switzerland’s main business draws are its two global cities: Geneva and Zurich. It is also the home to many international organisations such as the Red Cross, the second largest United Nations office, and the International Olympic Committee.
This landlocked country is one of the richest in the world for gross domestic product per capita. Meeting planners should note, however, Switzerland has the lowest VAT rate in Europe (8%), which is nearly all refunded to foreign organisers within a month after the meeting.
According to the latest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) country rankings, Switzerland improved its place by one spot to 12th in the worldwide list behind neighbouring Austria and The Netherlands with 214 qualifying meetings held. It also placed eighth in the European rankings.
The Switzerland Convention and Incentive Bureau’s latest members to join are Eastern Switzerland, which borders on Germany, Austria and for a brief stretch, Lichtenstein; and Flims Laax Falera. CMW will focus on the ski resort destination of Flims and St Gallen in Eastern Switzerland.
Ski or summer retreat: Flims
Flims, which in winter offers delegates 220km of slopes, mountain restaurants and après-ski bars, is 90 minutes from Zurich by train.
Although the town does not offer the largest of meeting facilities (it is only 50 square kilometres) it offers organisers an experienced meetings industry. “Flims and Laax may not be the best known of the Swiss resorts, and some clients may have concerns about visiting a destination that is not so well known, but organisers should take confidence that this destination is well positioned to accommodate groups, especially for ski incentives,” said Account Manager for Event Planning for Adding Value Events, Samantha Jones.
The VP of Marketing and Communications for BDC Meetings and Incentives, Matthew Wall, said he was always on the lookout for ‘hidden treasures’ and lower-profile resorts like Flims that offer good ski facilities for all proficiency levels. “The region offers great meetings facilities, customer services and the breadth of experiences on offer,” said Wall. “Contrary to popular belief it’s not all chocolate and cuckoo clocks.
“However, Switzerland is expensive compared to other destinations and this region lacks the profile of more glamorous destinations such as Zurich and St Moritz,” he added.
Although Flims’ ski offering is its biggest selling point, it has potential as a warmer meeting destination. In summer, teambuilding activities can be organised such as hiking, paragliding and biking.
The town’s largest hotel and meetings facility is Waldhaus Flims Mountain Resort and Spa. The hotel has three seminar halls as well as 16 meeting rooms. The Belle Epoque Pavilion can host 300 delegates and the boardroom-style rooms are suitable for between six and 60 delegates. The Waldhaus Arena, which for the winter months is a curling facility for teambuilding, turns into floor space for product presentations, exhibitions and conferences for up to 1,800 delegates.
In terms of breakout space, the hotel offers outdoor space for up to 2,000. Its six bars and restaurants can be hired for events as well as private dining.
In the summer months, the resort is popular with North American and domestic incentives and in winter the UK and Nordic countries book ski incentives. Interfunk AG hosted 150 German, Swiss and Austrian delegates at the Waldhaus and the French division of Hewlett Packard for product presentation over two days for 100 delegates. Last year, the hotel hosted 1,200 for Switzerland Tourism.
“The Waldhaus Flims has a long history with international banks hosting conferences here,” said the hotel’s Director of Sales, Tamara Jaeger. “However, a slight decline had been noticed during the global financial crisis. We are now focused on the pharmaceutical industry and meetings in the domestic market. Although the Waldhaus is five-star, it does offer four-star for pharmaceutical conferences.”
The town also offers apartments with cooking and living facilities for between four and eight people.
Rocksresort’s 122 apartments are based at the base station in Laax and finished completion in November 2010. As well as 587 beds, the resort is self-contained with seven restaurants, six bars (including the Crap bar, meaning rock in Romansh), shops and ski hire.
The resort has six event spaces with capacity for 12 to 600-delegate receptions. “As we have only finished the two large conference rooms this winter, we are only beginning to look at MICE business,” said Laax Events’ Daniela Berger. “We have around 30 incentives in combination with meetings every year, as well as eight bigger events such as ski festivals. Most of the events are in combination with snow sports.”
Conferences booked include Alpine Legends for 220 delegates and the Volcom Sales Meeting for 130 both in December 2011; and a Levi’s product launch for 180 in September 2011.
World Heritage meetings
“While Flims would be great for ski incentives, St Gallen-Bodensee (pictured above) is well suited for small conferences and offers a range of interesting options for offsite meetings, such as the arts and cultural centre, Lokremise St Gallen, which used to be an old rail engine depot,” said Adding Value Events’ Jones. “Cultural interest can be added to a programme through visits to the Monastery and Abbey Library.”
St Gallen is a 55-minute train ride from Zurich Airport. It is the seventh largest Swiss city and its university focuses on economy, law and social sciences.
Leisure and business tourists alike are drawn to the city for its colourfully painted oriel windows and Abbey precinct, which centres on the baroque cathedral and UNESCO World Heritage listed Abbey Library (pictured), which houses more than 140,000 rare and hand-painted documents.
The Einstein St Gallen Congress Hotel and Spa (pictured below) offers organisers 113 rooms, 3,000sqm of spa facilities and banqueting space for 400 delegates. Opened in 2009, the congress centre held 900 meetings, conferences and events in the first year. The centre hosted events including the Geo Thermal Convention, 220 delegates; and World Wide Fund for Nature international conference, 300 delegates.
The city recently hosted one of its largest ever events, the 12th International St Gallen Breast Cancer Conference with 5,000 delegates visiting the city’s largest congress centre, Olma Messen.
In 2012, the city will host 500 for the International Conference of the System Dynamics Society and European Colorectal Congress for 1,500.
“I was very impressed with the meeting facilities in the area, and, of course, the timeless beauty of the Swiss countryside was an added attraction,” said BCD’s Wall.
The city’s core meetings market is domestic with around 85 per cent of meetings held from Switzerland. “However,” said St Gallen-Bodensee Tourism’s Head of Meetings and Market Development, Urs Treuthardt. “We see great potential in larger international meetings and we are strong partners with the international university and hospital.”
Treuthardt admitted the city centre does lack hotel rooms and five-star options. “With the opening of two new hotels by 2013, Holiday Inn Express with 150 rooms and Park Inn with 100 rooms, we will be more competitive and see great potential in multinational conferences as we border with Germany and Austria,” he added.
The planned building of a new conference centre with an attached
55-room hotel as part of Olma Messen will include 3,200sqm of meeting space when finished in 2013. “The new space will give us much need hotel room capacity,” said Treuthardt. “On top of this it will offer attractive meeting facilities for mid-sized meetings and breakout space for large conventions held in the Olma.”
Variety of meetings
The Head of Sales for the Conference and Incentive Division of Red Peak Events, Frances Green said there are a huge variety of activities to compliment a meeting or to support a pure incentive trip. “There is a perception of Switzerland is a bit boring or safe, or simply that it is all about skiing. The transfer time from the airport can also put some groups off if they are used to resort-style alternatives such as Marbella, Barcelona and Cannes. However, it does offer a less expensive alternative to an Italian lakes summer incentive,” she said.
Eastern Switzerland offers organisers that quintessential Swiss hospitality and meeting experience without the chaos of busier alternatives such as Zurich and Geneva. Well known for its meetings facilities domestically, it is now the industry’s task to climb the international peaks of meetings to ensure its name is known on a global meetings sphere.
Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
