COURCHEVEL’S biggest visitor market is Great Britain, with other strong markets of Belgium and Russia.
Only about 1,800 people live in the city but tourist arrivals for 2007 reached around 180,000 during the winter season, said Celine Kay, marketing and promotion manager, Courchevel Tourism.
“The Middle East does contribute much to this but there is a small number which fluctuates from one year to another. For example, in January, for three weeks we only had guests from the Middle East in the top end hotels.”
“Hopefully we will soon see an increase in expat as well as the Arab travellers to Courchevel. At the moment, we mainly have royal families from the region visiting Courchevel. Most of our regular clients book in advance for their next holidays before leaving the resort, but from the Middle East it is usually very last minute.”
“Courchevel is a city that works best on requests of our guests. Our offerings are very specific and cannot be sold over the internet or on a package. We really like to know our client and adapt his package to suit him best,” she said.
Courchevel, a ski area located in the Savoie region of the French Alps and a two hour drive from Geneva or Lyons, offers hotels of which about half are four and four star deluxe properties featuring spas, wellness centre, shopping and offering gastronomic specialties. There are also chalets and luxurious apartments. Inside the resort are art galleries and galleries for fashion designers, plus an extensive programme of daily events such as polo tournaments.
Besides skiing, other activities including ice skating, snow mobiles and hot air balloons are ideal for families.
Most clients visit the area in January because of the excellent snow conditions, although the temperature is better in and the days are longer. “For the traditional Middle Eastern summer months, we are open but not completely. For example out of 15 hotels that are open in the winter, only four are open during the summer months. So summer season is not our busy period. However, there are lots of things to do. The mountains offer a panoramic view. It’s a great time for active holidays. There is rafting, tennis plus a nine hole golf course here.
Staff is trained to cater to the demands of all nationalities, not only Arab travellers. “Since we have clients from 47 different countries visiting our city and they all have very high expectations and needs, each one is different and it is necessary for us to adapt to every individual guests demands irrespective of nationality. Our staff in all the resort are experienced and trained to handle this.”
The Courchevel team came to the UAE more to understand the culture and to show agents here how they worked being a destination mainly offered on requests – how to work with wholesalers and travel agents was important, says Kay.
“We are continuously working with Maison de la France to promote the destination to the region.”
Courchevel promoted itself in more than 40 countries, each year trying to visit one new destination. “Lebanon is a place where we try to go regularly. Otherwise, it is mainly Dubai. Last year we also visited Abu Dhabi and this year we will also visit Kuwait,” she said.