Corporate Seminar: City or Countryside, What Are the Differences?

A large number of corporate seminars take place in the city. This choice is often made for logistical and practical reasons for the event. Indeed, the public transport network found in the city is very developed, which greatly simplifies travel during the event.

In the heart of cities, there are also TGV stations, allowing you to reach your seminar destination easily from other cities in France or even Europe, as for a seminar in Paris. For some urban areas, there are also airports nearby, which is ideal for a seminar with participants from several countries. In addition, you will have a wide choice in terms of seminar, meeting or conference rooms for your daytime events. The vast majority of these spaces are fully equipped with modern and advanced technologies.

For meals during your corporate seminar in the city, you will find a large number of restaurants and a very varied offer, as well as many service providers such as caterers if you prefer to organize a meal in a private place, such as for a company party.

There are also many entertainment venues in an urban area, such as theaters, stadiums or cinemas, if you want to organize an activity of this type during your corporate seminar. In this regard, you can also book a time slot for visits to the historical monuments and cultural sites of the city you have chosen, in order to allow your employees to discover the local culture.

Finally, you will mainly find a large choice of accommodation, ranging from small, intimate hotels to large carriers with a capacity of several hundred people, all offered at different prices, so you can find the ideal accommodation that corresponds to the size of your group but also your budget.

Organizing a seminar in the city has many advantages, but a seminar in the countryside has just as many, only very different.

First of all, by moving away from an urban area, you can especially enjoy the ambient calm. Noise and light pollution will no longer be present. This will allow your employees to enjoy an ideal setting, which will also encourage them to concentrate more and think even more.

The surrounding environment will not be buildings, parking lots and traffic jams but rather fields, forests or large green spaces if you organize your seminar in the mountains in an estate. Between two meetings or moments of work, your employees will be able to take advantage of this ideal setting to spend their breaks and recharge their batteries. Without all the additional distractions that are found in the city, your employees will be encouraged to interact with each other and develop cohesion within your teams. This fact will have a direct post-event impact on the effectiveness of your company, directly impacted by the well-being of your employees at work.

Regarding the Team-Building activities that you can organize, you have a wide choice, although different from the services that you find in the city. Indeed, most of the activities can be carried out outdoors, such as a hiking or cycling trip, a yoga session or a tree climbing course. For indoor activities, if you do not want to travel, you can for example contact a service provider who could come to your seminar venue to offer activities such as a personalized escape game for your company.

The accommodations suitable for a corporate seminar in the countryside are less numerous than in the city but more atypical. It is common to find castles or large estates with an exterior, or farms that have been transformed into privatizable houses. These places are certainly less numerous, but more spaced out than in the city with an almost non-existent opposite, which reduces the constraints such as those for the end time of an event in the evening. They are also much more spacious, and most have an exterior where you can organize an activity / meal or simply spend your breaks during this seminar in the countryside.

Finally, if you want to organize an eco-responsible seminar, it will be easier to organize this in the countryside, all in a friendly and authentic atmosphere, which will strengthen the bonds between your employees.

The cost of a seminar can also be a decisive criterion in the selection of your destination. Globally, the overall cost of your event is likely to be higher in the city than in the countryside. Indeed, regarding the main expenses of your event: space rental and accommodation; prices are higher than in the countryside from a size and location point of view. However, large estates in the countryside can also be very expensive, only for the price of a classic hotel in the city you can be in a castle in the countryside.

For services, prices are higher in the city, with average wages and a higher cost of living than in the countryside. The phenomenon of seasonality should not be taken lightly, especially in the city. Depending on the period in which you want to organize your event, it is possible to discover an ideal and very advantageous offer. In the context of a seminar in a rural place, there is less seasonality, except in the case of very touristy regions where during the summer prices can double or even triple.

A big difference from a price point of view is that by selecting accommodation in the city, in most cases you will have to book the activities in addition, which will not be included in the price offered. Conversely, in the countryside, thanks to the fact that the activity offer may be limited, the accommodations and service providers agree with each other to offer you a seminar package with activities included or optional. Even if it is optional, you can directly see with the accommodation which can centralize the reservation and organization.

Finally, for transportation in the city, access from train stations / airports is relatively simple, and the cost is low if you choose to travel by public transport. Similarly, once there you can get around by public transport, on foot or even by bike very easily. This is less the case in the countryside, depending on where the establishment chosen for your seminar is located, you will have to book a private shuttle to get there, and private transport throughout your event if travel is necessary.

Overall, a seminar in the countryside will be less logistically simple to organize, but less expensive from a budgetary point of view. While a seminar in the city will certainly be more expensive, but you will have more choice for the spaces you want to book.