Organising a corporate trip - where?

A snowHead

A business friend just rang and wants to take me and a few of his other customers for a couple of days of skiing/boarding. He skis himself and prefers France but that's not cast in stone. He asked my advice regarding where to go, the priority being good flight options from various UK airports, short transfers and busy night life, plus enough piste for a range of abilities over 2-3 days.

I suggested Chamonix and Morzine as Geneva is a good hub to fly to and these are both close (ish).

Any other suggestions?

A snowHead

bar shaker, I organise one or two such quickies each season and I feel like I've got it pretty-well taped. My preferred hub is Munich and then onwards to the likes of Kitzbuhel/Soll/Kaprun/Hintertux depending on the time and the group. Fly on the sunday and stay sunday night, monday night and head back to Munich after skiing on the tuesday (there are late flights out of there and it's generally an easy transfer - also do-able by train if the autobahn is looking nasty). Two full days for two nights accommo and, I find, it's a sensible amount of time for a corporate trip especially if you've got an odd one in the group. Short transfers - say 90 minutes to Kitzbuhel on a clear run.

Relatively easy booking good hotels because the week-end has been avoided. Either use private minibus taxis to/from Munich or have hired a small coach a few times - best to get a few quotes on that (reckon on 100 Euros a head for the return). I always arrange with the transfer guys to have beer/wine etc on board and for the hotel to lay on a welcome buffet no matter how late. If meeting other flights (you might have say Manchester, Heathrow, Stansted to co-ordinate) I muster everyone in the bar of the Kempinski Hotel and have the transfer buses meet us there - it's an easy walk through from either terminal and has a very nice bar.

For me, you cannot beat Austria for this type of gig - you are bound to have a mixed ability group and some will be along for the atmosphere as much as anything else. 4 star hotels there are top value compared to France and your guests will invariably feel well looked after. BA/Lufthansa flights also cheaper to there than Geneva I find. Goes without saying that Kitzbuhel nightlife is tops and drinks half the price of Val D'Ispere etc.

I tend to kick off the accommodation search by emailing the tourist office: "I am organising a corporate group etc" usually gets attention and a small flurry of offers from hotels. I then go back to the hotels with a "if you can improve slightly on that..." and they always do.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Well it depends how the business is doing but flying into Courchevel would be most convenient.

Le Grand Massif (Les Carrozs, Samoens, Flaine) is very close to GVA.

Or there's Innsbruck. There's a lift right out of the City.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Bode Swiller, you're just francophobic

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admin, no, always quite admired Spanish dictators.

Anyway, to be boring for a second, as the subject matter is corporate hospitality can't let it pass without being responsible and mentioning The Bribary Act. Yes, incredibly, some companies will soon have to be very careful about who/how they entertain - in certain circumstances it will be viewed as bribary and, as usual, there is a pile of red tape attached to keep yourself the right side of the law... and some say it's a draconian law with pretty severe penalties.

http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/pdf/The%20Bribery%20Act%202010%20-%20how%20prepared%20are%20you.pdf

Even before talk of this law I've had some invitees who have had to "run it by" their bosses to make sure it wasn't seen purely as an incentive to do business (which of course it was Laughing

). And the tax man doesn't like it if it's a straigtforward jolly with no apparent business reason other than to "bond" over a massive line up of shot glasses. So, for those reasons alone, a good idea to look for a hotel with a conference facility and at least do a half hour presentation. Then, with your hand on The Bible you can say you did it.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Bode Swiller, My supplier always manages to get in a short presentation on some new product, or other.

I will pass on the Munich details. Many thanks for the idea.

After all it is free

Bode Swiller,

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Bode Swiller, Laughing

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snow reports

Back on track, and pimping only my village as opposed to a particular company, have you heard of:

http://www.arc1950.com/en/Services/30-Cameleon-Organisation/View-details.html

who can arrange as much or as little as your friend needs to be on the right side of the taxman.

It's in france, it's in a great domain, and it shows the clients that you know how to arrange a proper product evaluation environment... wink

bar shaker, Hi I arrange one each year and switch between Gstaad and Davos, Davos is a good option if your looking for a bit of night life, and the skking options for a mixed ability group is good, we fly out Friday morning back Monday night and do the transfers by rail, get to see a bit of the country side as a bonus.

Usualy get a couple of hours on the slopes on Friday and Monday morning.

You know it makes sense.

Ischgl.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Fly to Innsbruck and you've got some of Austria's best skiing and apres within an hour - St Anton, Ischgl and Soelden. You might struggle with short breaks in St Anton though, but http://www.hotelmontana.at/en/ is in a great position and does do breaks of less than 7 days

A snowHead

bar shaker, if it's a corporate do then The Farmhouse in Morzine would be a good venue.

A snowHead

The key to a great corporate ski trip is to maximise the ski time, so short transfers are important, so is access from various airports if you have people coming from different parts of the UK. The problem is that many clients looking for corporate breaks want to arrive on Friday and return on Monday so in the most popular resorts in Europe finding beds is a problem. We find that the hotels in Austria are able to offer beds more so than in France.

I handle most of the corporate trips for Ski Line http://www.skiline.co.uk/Corporate_ski_holidays.asp and would be happy to provide some quotes.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

FlyingStantoni, That looks lovely but is almost fully booked for this year.

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Hotels Morgane or Aiglons in Chamonix would be good corporate bets, spas, conference facilities, etc.

Help!!

Organising a corporate trip - where?

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