Lots of movement in the hotel scene

For the individual MICE service providers, however, it is still a matter of acquiring their own customers, especially regional and local companies and associations, and in Zurich itself, a major player in the industry emerged this summer, the budget design hotel Motel One on Brandschenkestrasse. With its almost 400 rooms, it is shaking up the normal hotel business, both business and leisure. The city's providers of conference and corporate event facilities probably breathed a sigh of relief when they found out that Motel One would not be offering any conference rooms. At least there is no threat of additional competition from the city center; they already have enough to do with the upcoming "The Circle" offer at Zurich Airport.

Atlantis-by-Giardino

Another hotel has returned and it bears a familiar name; the Atlantis-by-Giardino, located directly at the foot of Zurich's Üetliberg. Kai Spehr has been working at Atlantis since it reopened in 2015 and took over the management this summer. He also targets events of all kinds, including weddings and gala dinners, and Spehr comments on the first real financial year 2016 from a MICE perspective as follows: "We are satisfied with the occupancy rate and cater for an average of 10 to 15 events per week. One of the advantages of our location is its proximity to nature, so we often integrate short hikes or barbecue outings for our corporate guests. Our unique outdoor area with the Hide & Seek terrace also fits in with this. "For a seminar or gala dinner, the Atlantis has the "Wave" event room with around 260 square meters. It can be divided into two rooms and is equipped with the latest technical equipment. According to Kai Spehr, the minimum food and beverage consumption for the use of this room is CHF 12,000 per day. There are also the two event rooms Drift with 55 m2 and Tide with 42 m2. The promoters of Atlantis-by-Giardino see themselves as a modern urban resort, high above what they call the Alpine metropolis of Zurich.

Sorell Hotels make gains

Just north of the city of Zurich, towards the zoo, lies another strong MICE provider, still a little "low-key", but with high quality and great success in the conference and seminar segment: the Sorell Hotel Zürichberg. Stefan Keel is Director of Operations for the Sorell Group and provides information about business at the Zürichberg. "We can handle around 220 business events a year with an average of around 20 people, not including weddings and private bookings. This business comes mainly from the greater Zurich area and its immediate agglomeration and we are pleased that we have a very high proportion of regular corporate customers. Our plus points are our easy accessibility, including by streetcar, and our own parking garage, but above all the Hotel Zürichberg has a "resort character" and is therefore particularly suitable for seminars lasting several days with overnight accommodation. Guests can, but do not have to, leave the hotel and have plenty of variety in terms of leisure, sport and cuisine. For example, there is the honorable Kursaal, with an area of 114 m2 and rental costs of 1560 francs, or room S84, whose 84 m2 costs 1300 francs; in each case without catering.

Pfäffikon SZ

This naturally includes the Seedamm Plaza at the upper end of Lake Zurich. There has also been an important change in management there; the long-standing director Peter Ernst retired this summer after 20 years of service and was replaced by Heinz Brassel, a trained chef who has worked in Sion, Locarno and Klosters and for seven years in Australia. He has also worked at the Hotel Seedamm Plaza without interruption since it opened in 1998, most recently as head of production and member of the management team. It is now up to him to continue the successful MICE performance. Around 1,200 events with almost 50,000 participants take place at the hotel every year (plus a further 160,000 visitors to the Swiss Casino located in the same building). The successful business model is based, among other things, on corporate bookings, which account for almost 22 percent of turnover, and the seminar and congress segment with a share of 37 percent, and the Seedamm Plaza also enjoys a regular corporate clientele, many of whom have been with the hotel for years, and bookings come from all over Switzerland. Flexibility is an important factor in the MICE sector and when you have such a wide range of rooms as the Hotel Seedamm Plaza, you can really draw on the full potential. After all, there are 40 seminar rooms, three restaurants and two bars, five banquet rooms and the Plaza Event Hall. There are also 142 bright hotel rooms. The largest seminar room "Leonardo DaVinci" offers 420 m2 and a large screen with an "Encore softedge projection". With maximum theater seating, 550 people can be served.

Tourism facts

Key tourism figures for the Zurich sub-region (including the city of Zurich, Limmattal & Knonaueramt) for 2016:- 4.38 million overnight stays (+ 1.0 % compared to the previous year)- Average length of stay 1.67 nights per guest- Proportion of foreign guests 75.4%(Source: Zurich Tourism Annual Report)