Their example is sufficiently rare to be worth a mention… In the mountain resort of La Clusaz, at the heart of the Aravis mountain range and a short distance from Annecy, a number of tourism professionals have joined forces to sell their destination on the business tourism market.
In 2008 they created the La Clusaz Séminaires association, with Éric Pollet-Villard – owner of the Oxygène Organisation agency – as president and involving two hotels from the PVG group, the Alpen Roc and the Beauregard; Oxygène Organisation, which specialises in outdoor activities in the Aravis and around Lac d’Annecy; the Télémark Café; the Vé la Marie à Noré refuge based in Manigod which can host evening events, workshops and offers accommodation for 20 people; L’Écluse disco; the Bonnet d’Ane bar; Le Grenier restaurant; Les Rhodos restaurant situated at the Col des Aravis; the ESF ski school, and Altger Ego, a company headed up by Yvan Dorier, former director of the Club des Sports, which specialises in coaching and team building.
“We started out with the idea of combining human and financial resources in order to establish La Clusaz as a seminar destination,” explain Éric Pollet-Villard and RĂ©gis Duffes, hotels director of the PVG group. “We wanted to make La Clusaz one of the top three choices alongside Val d’Isère and Chamonix for business tourism, because market share of the seminar industry is increasingly sought after. By joining forces, we’ve been able to take part at various shows such as RĂ©unir, Bedouk, SĂ©minaires & Business as well as Rencontres Pro organised by RhĂ´ne-Alpes Tourisme at the beginning of June in Lyon. Actually that show has left us with high expectations for some good results – we had back-to-back meetings which resulted in 20 very promising contacts”.Â
Their team work is definitely paying off. In fact, in 2009, right in the middle of the recession, the Alpen Roc and the Beauregard saw their business fall by only 3%, hosting over 180 seminars, whilst a number of other hotels registered a fall back of 30-40% ! Since Spring 2010, the number of seminar bookings has increased by 9% and things are looking good for the Autumn. There are also several confirmed bookings for next winter…
The recession has impacted on the size of groups. “We mostly see groups of between 30 and 40 people rather than 40 to 80 a few years ago,” says Éric Pollet-Villard. “On average the bookings are for two nights, and organisers have much tighter budgets to work with, meaning that rates are squeezed. However, because La Clusaz Séminaires offers a whole range of products, we’re gaining market share unlike some of the other resorts, who are envious of our success at the various trade shows…”
La Clusaz SĂ©minaires, in la Clusaz (Haute-Savoie)
Tel.: 00 33 (0)4 50 65 05 05
