With 55 million skier-days spent on all its skiable terrain, France is by far the world leader in the ski market. Business customers are obviously among the many fans of the snowy slopes and regularly take to the invigorating air of the heights, relatively rarely as part of a conference, but more often as part of a seminar or reward operation. "In winter, the mountains offer MICE groups a particularly exotic environment, where participants are all the more receptive to the messages conveyed by their company".says Christian Mantei, Director General of Atout France. It's an environment where you can take part in activities that are often quite unusual: sled dogs, joëring skiing (where the skier is pulled by a horse), snowshoeing, etc. Cathy Didier, head of conference promotion at Chamonix, points out that "the majority of business customers who choose a snow destination are not skiers!
Dinner on the sea of ice
The resorts have taken this on board and are adding winter-oriented team-building activities to their offer. Chamonix, for example, has developed challenges on the Mer de Glace, France's largest glacier. Multi-activity competitions, Olympiads and treasure hunts are also organised in parallel.
After these team-building moments, the evenings provide an opportunity to get together around the table and discover the local gastronomy. The theme "trapper The programme includes a night-time walk in snowshoes with headlamps, followed by mulled wine served around a campfire and a Savoyard dinner. More original is the privatisation of the Montenvers cog railway, which takes you up to the Mer de Glace at an altitude of 1,900 m, before a mountain dinner in a listed 19th-century building.
La Plagne is also banking on the rare, even the exceptional, to attract business customers. "We have some unique facilities, like this Olympic bobsleigh track with 19 bends and speeds of up to 110 km/h!says Yann Clavillier, Director of the Grande Plagne Promotion Office. Another curiosity at Champagny-le-Haut, just a few minutes from the resort, is a 24-metre-high artificial ice tower open to climbers of all abilities. A popular activity with incentive groups. When the slopes open or close, groups can also go down on an airboard - a type of inflatable sledge - at night or, at dawn, hurtle down untouched slopes in the company of experienced ski patrollers.
In the latter case, before heading back down to the resort, participants have breakfast in a mountain restaurant with an exceptional view of the snow-capped peaks. Afterwards, they also have the opportunity to take a private tour of the ski lift machinery in the presence of its director. What's more, since this year, La Plagne has had a heliport next to the bobsleigh run to attract guests from neighbouring resorts, including the very chic Courchevel.
Latest chic in Courchevel
"For a company, inviting people to Courchevel is tantamount to promoting them, which will ensure the success of the operation".says Adeline Roux, Director of Courchevel Tourisme. With its flurry of palaces and Michelin-starred restaurants, the resort is obviously promoting its prestigious image. Its core target is VIP groups of around fifty participants, such as management committees, senior management meetings or top sales executives, many of them from abroad. Companies appreciate the international nature of the resort, with instructors who speak several languages.
But wherever they come from, they all come to Courchevel first and foremost... to ski! The resort is the exception that proves the rule, backing onto the largest ski area in the world, the Trois Vallées. That's 600 kilometres of pistes accessible to skiers of all abilities. Here too, Courchevel cultivates its exclusivity by offering unique products for groups: night-time privatisation of a ski slope, meetings with famous skiers, simultaneous flight of five hot-air balloons, discovery of the work of avalanche dogs...
Fabrice Perez, manager of the Courchevel Aventures agency, notes a change in demand. "Increasingly, companies are looking to organise operations with a 'sustainable development' aspect, with activities that are more nature-based and geared towards a collective experience".. Top-of-the-range customers, fed up with the great classics, are turning to privatised products to create unique moments. For example, an original evening for a dozen or so people in an authentic woodcutter's hut, a moment of relaxation in a luxurious spa like the one at the Grandes Alpes Private Hotel, or a dog-sleigh ride... This last activity, supervised by a musher - the dog handler -... is generally done in small groups. After a one-hour walk in the heart of nature, participants stop for lunch or dinner in an igloo. Or, for the more adventurous, to spend the night there!
Tobogganing
In Megève, another of France's most exclusive resorts, Frank Jaulneau, manager of the Hotel Alpaga, is particularly attentive to his guests' wishes: "We take care of them from A to Z: welcoming them, supporting their activities, managing all the logistics...". The tone is set by the staff themselves, who have adopted a casual chic style. The groups, of which 75?% are of foreign origin, number no more than 45 people and are particularly keen on night-time snowmobile outings, followed by dinner in a mountain restaurant and... a toboggan ride home."Obviously, if one of the participants doesn't want to go down this way, we honour their request. The important thing is that everyone has good memories of their stay!"explains Frank Jaulneau.
Another new demand from organisers is a return to a certain authenticity. As a result, they are looking for regions that are less frequented and very unspoilt. Auvergne, in particular, where, in winter, the Parc des Volcans takes on the air of Canada's Great North: dog sledding or snowshoeing, igloo building, dinner on a farm with calves, cows and sheep! "This option is ideal for large groups of up to 200 people. But for groups of no more than 40 guests, the evening can be held in a buron, an old stone building that was once used as an animal shelter. On the menu: regional produce, accordion and Auvergne songs".says Mathieu Roux, Director of Auvergne Loisirs.
Bobsleigh on the Olympic track
At the gateway to Italy, Montgenèvre, France's oldest resort, offers groups the chance to ski on the Milky Way. An evocative name for an area of 400 kilometres of pistes between France and Italy! "Over the last three years, we've seen very steady growth in business tourism".says Christian Jullien, head of Red Ski Organisation, the groups department of the ESF (French ski school). Attracted by the sunshine of the Southern Alps resort and its proximity to Italy, companies are discovering its tremendous potential: In the evening, as night fell, around forty participants set off on snowshoes to discover the flora and fauna, finding their bearings by observing the stars. Then they dine in tipis lit by torches and warmed by a wood fire. For groups of a hundred or more, a gondola lift can be privatised to provide access to a high-altitude restaurant, and the descent is usually made with torches, on snowshoes or on skis.
The Jura mountain range also offers the opportunity to mix and match activities as you move from one country to another. "Far from the mass tourism image of the other massifs, the Haut-Doubs stands out for its wide, white spaces, which give it an adventurous feel that is highly prized by business customers".says Jean-David Garrelou, in charge of groups at the Doubs departmental tourism committee. As well as the traditional activities, the region is also offering exclusive events such as the biathlon - a cross-country ski race combined with laser rifle shooting - ski jumping at the Chaux-Neuve stadium and a treasure hunt on snowshoes or skis with the help of a GPS.
Night in a tent
Switzerland isn't far away, so a stay in the Doubs gives you the chance to discover new sensations, particularly in the resorts of the Jura Arc. Even further afield, this "other snow country offers a host of possibilities that rival each other in originality! Snow tubing in Leysin, bobsleigh on a natural run in St Maurice, a night in an igloo village in Gstaad or in a whitepod camp in Les Giettes, in round tents set in the heart of nature at the foot of the Dents du Midi, accessible only on snowshoes and skis... Anything is possible!
Thrill-seekers can also find something to suit them in France. For example, in the Hautes-Alpes, Vars welcomes groups to its Chabrières couloir, one of the most impressive speed runs in the world. The resort is also renowned for its free-style slopes. In the evening, for small groups in search of authenticity, the high-altitude hotel-restaurant Le Chal'heureux can be made private for groups of ten. It has a seminar room, an outdoor sauna and a range of activities: snowshoeing, dog sledding, skiing, etc. Transfers from the resort to the hotel are by snowmobile or snowcat.
In the Southern Alps, on the edge of the Mercantour park and an hour and a half from Nice, in Auron to be precise, airboard descents are organised for around fifty people. "Lying flat on their stomachs on an inflatable board, they hurtle down the slopes headfirst. Thrills guaranteed".says Pascal Lequenne, Promotion Manager for the Mercantour resorts. Other activities available in the resort include ice climbing and walking with crampons on frozen torrents...
Sea and mountains
At neighbouring Isola 2000, groups can take part in a go-kart race on a snow-covered circuit or a challenge on a snake gliss, a collective toboggan carrying six passengers. It's all great fun! What's new this winter? A yurt set up in the middle of the forest with a panoramic view of the resort, an ideal place for an evening combining a snowshoe hike with a headlamp, dinner around a wood-burning stove and a snowmobile ride home. But the real attraction of Isola 2000 is its view of the Mediterranean and the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. It's a rare treat that in late spring you can enjoy winter sports in the mornings and swim in the sea in the afternoons!
Water and snow also go very well together in Haute-Savoie. In 2010, La Clusaz launched the "Lake Annecy Ski Resort with the resorts of Le Grand Bornand, Manigod and Saint-Jean de Sixt, in association with Annecy. This grouping is helping to promote the region internationally. And it's paying off, with more and more groups coming to the region. It's true that the range of accommodation and activities on offer is particularly varied: perched cabins, horse-drawn carriage rides, aquatic centres, evenings on Lake Annecy, spas, dog sledding, snowshoeing, heated igloos, hot-air ballooning, ski joëring... and yooner, a microluge inspired by the paret, the old wooden toboggan used by schoolchildren to hurtle down the slopes. A return to childhood, in a way...
