Seminar travel by train, car and ship

Seminars, meetings and events do not necessarily have to take place in a location that has only one location. Mobile locations that take you from A to B while you can concentrate on your work are very popular, especially on the lake by ship, because no one can leave the event before it is moored again at the harbor. So excuses like "I have to go home early, my dog is alone" are of no use for once.Not only trains and ships invite to events, also buses are a good solution for a seminar on wheels, if they are properly equipped.

By train

Transportation in the classic sense is of course also the topic of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Davide Filippelli, deputy head of the charter department, provides information: "We offer various extra coaches to make the journey to the conference venue a special experience. For smaller groups, it is possible to rent individual carriages and attach them to a train in scheduled service. And for an extra trip, the customer determines his own personal schedule." Like Eurobus, SBB also has a "star means of transport," the "Salon de Luxe" extra car. This can be set up individually; either for a meeting with lounges or with seminar seating. "Federal councillors and foreign state guests have already used this carriage," Filippelli says proudly.

Changing needs

Both transporters, whether road or rail, are open to the meetings and events business and are therefore also aware of the new needs of customers. Eurobus, for example, has been offering WLAN on all its coaches (and throughout Europe) since this year. And there are power sockets at all seats. At SBB, WLAN isn't quite working yet, but it's probably only a matter of time. Less leniency is allowed when it comes to catering; here, both partners must be able to implement fast and flexible offers.

On the lake

In terms of time, the shipping companies on Lake Lucerne (SGV) and Lake Zurich (ZSG) probably have a little less pressure. Those who take their company out on the lake usually have more than just one hour at their disposal. This is an important advantage, especially for catering; aperitifs can be enjoyed on the upper deck and meals in the beautiful "setting" of the ballroom.

Lake Lucerne

The SGV operates five nostalgic paddle steamers, eleven motor ships, one catamaran, one panorama yacht and the event ship MS Diamant. The ships can be rented all year round and offer a total of more than 3000 gastronomic seats. Anyone who has experienced this will never forget it: an evening cruise from Lucerne with a dozen ships setting sail side by side. The type of ship rentals is diverse and ranges from exhibitions on standing ships at the jetty to seminars, customer events and employee outings.

Lake Zurich

Quite similar, perhaps with slightly fewer ships, is the offer on Lake Zurich, as the person responsible for marketing and communications, Wiebke Sander, reports. "We also rent out our motor and steam ships, including captain and crew, for all kinds of corporate events. Our ships can accommodate up to 300 guests with banquet seating; duration and route are determined by the customer. He also has the choice to sail with the existing furniture or to furnish the ship according to his own wishes and needs. And of interest for the event business is that we also rent out our shipyard in Zurich-Wollishofen during the summer months. Up to 1,000 people can celebrate there."

Digitization is coming

The trend at ZSG is more toward larger groups. Ms. Sander explains: "Three to four years ago, the ships tended to be booked by individual departments. Today, the requests relate to the whole company. And the demand for digitalization is also increasing for us, and a public WLAN is a need. The WLAN on the ships has so far only been for internal use; opening it up is currently being examined. There are no new requirements in the area of safety; however, this remains a top priority for us. We use appropriately trained nautical staff, and we provide additional security personnel at parties."

Catering

All providers agree that the catering sector has changed. Customers today want flexible and personalized catering solutions, even for short-duration transports. Fixed five-course meals, says Wiebke Sander, are no longer in demand. Instead, there is a trend toward "flying dinners" with many different dishes in small portions, so that all preferences can be catered for.http://www.eurobus.chhttp://www.sbb.ch/charterhttp://www.lakelucerne.chhttp://www.zsg.ch

Lucrative business

They don't like to be looked at in the books, but a few key figures do suggest that the "business transport" business is not uninteresting:Eurobus doesn't break down its figures, but last year the company, with 500 employees, generated sales of 125 million Swiss francs. About half of the 450 boat trips of the Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees (SGV) were booked by companies; of these, 15 were pure seminar events. And the Zürichsee Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG) at least lets it be known that demand for corporate events and seminars is developing very well and that they generated an increase of around 22 percent in the first half of 2018.