This week I attended the first event in Germany. I travelled from Heidelberg to Frankfurt for the “Get a taste of Bern” event, organised by Switzerland Convention and Incentive Bureau. The event took place at Flowcation and Swiss partners from Made in Bern, representing City Bern, Interlaken, Jungfrau Region and Gstaad presented the local MICE offer focusing on gastronomic experiences.
We all know that Switzerland is famous for cheese and chocolate. Two famous items come from the region, the Toblerone chocolate and Emmental cheese.
When I lived in Switzerland from 2005 – 2011 we did with fellow students a cheese making experience. We went very early, around 6am to the cow barn to join the farmers as they start their day. We assisted to the cheese production and learned about the process, and saw where they “age” and store the cheeses. Afterwards, around lunch time we did a BBQ and had a picnic with the group. This was one of the first activities I did in Switzerland and I can highly recommend it for team building.
On a different occasion we went to chocolate factory. We learned about the history and production process and this ended up with buying lots of chocolate 🙂 This activity had less of a “team building” element and more for a general knowledge and present shopping.
What I didn’t know about the Bern region, is that they also have a whisky distillery (Producing the Swiss Highland Single Malt Whisky) and local caviar. Groups can organise team building activities to learn about the production process and tastings.
They provided a list of restaurants in Canton Bern suitable for groups and who offer gastronomic experiences. For example, Kursaal Bern and restaurant Meridiano, Congress Centre Kursaal Interlaken, Restaurant Spycher, Hotel Eiger Mürren and Fondueland Gstaad.
The presentations were followed by a three course menu dinner and replicated traditional dished from Bern. I was very pleased to experience that Bern has brought a foodie offer to the MICE market.
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