The Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc tourist board has rolled out an unusually ambitious summer programme for 2026, betting that a combination of marquee sporting events, gastronomic firepower and a wave of design-led accommodation will tempt corporate travellers to extend their Alpine trips well beyond the meeting room.
At the centre of the offer is the long-awaited reopening of the Tramway du Mont-Blanc, France’s highest cog railway, which returns to service this summer after a three-year reconstruction. A new extension will carry passengers all the way to the Nid d’Aigle refuge at 2,394 metres, the traditional jumping-off point for ascents of Mont Blanc, and is being positioned as a flagship for sustainable mountain mobility as much as a tourist attraction.
The reopening dovetails with the unveiling, in July, of a comprehensively refurbished Mont-Blanc Museum in Chamonix. Rebranded from the former Musée Alpin, it will house immersive exhibitions on mountaineering, Alpine history and landscape heritage, useful cultural ballast for executives who want a half-day off between conference sessions.
Haute-Savoie’s growing reputation as a French gastronomic heartland received another boost this year, with two new entries to the Michelin guide taking the department’s tally to 21 starred restaurants. La Table d’Armante in Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce, under Chef Thomas Vonderscher, and Chalet Flachaire in Abondance, headed by Chef Thomas Flachaire, are the latest additions.
On the shores of Lake Annecy, the iconic Auberge du Père Bise has emerged from an extensive redesign by architect Antoine Ricardou. A decade after Jean and Magali Sulpice took over the property, the reception, dining rooms and bar have been reimagined as a contemporary lakeside retreat with the spirit of a traditional inn, a reminder that even at the top end of the French dining scene, the shift away from formal fine dining is reshaping how the wealthy eat out.
Cabins, micro-palaces and a British takeover in Morzine
The region’s hotel pipeline reflects a now-familiar trend: luxury, nature-led accommodation with a heavy emphasis on sustainability and wellbeing. The Micro Palaces at the Secret Gardens in Vaulx and the Cabanes du Salève in Collonges-sous-Salève, mountain cabins with private outdoor spas, are among the headline openings.
In Morzine, Le Tremplin, the storied hotel at the foot of the Pléney slopes, is being repositioned under the ownership of Britain’s Timpson family. Following the reopening of its restaurant, bar and terrace, 12 independent suites will debut for the summer season, a project that mirrors the growing British appetite for open-air Alpine summer escapes.
A Tour de France double-header
Sport, however, remains Haute-Savoie’s most powerful pull factor. The department will play host to two pivotal stages of the Tour de France between 19 and 21 July, including a decisive mountain finish on the Plateau de Solaison and an individual time trial along the shores of Lake Geneva between Évian-les-Bains and Thonon-les-Bains. The route will also incorporate a rest day in the region, a useful window for sponsors and corporate hospitality programmes alike, and one that follows in the wake of previous Tour-related luxury hospitality offers in France.
Elsewhere in the calendar, the Spartan Ultra World Championships descends on Morzine from 2 to 5 July, while Morillon hosts a second consecutive round of the UCI Enduro World Cup on 15 and 16 August. Les Gets, by now a fixture on the international mountain-biking circuit, stages a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup round from 21 to 23 August. The crown jewel arrives at the end of the month, when the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc takes over Chamonix from 24 to 28 August, drawing the global trail-running elite — and an increasingly international, free-spending spectator base, to the valley.
Culture, cycling and dog-friendly diversification
For culture-led travellers, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival runs from 21 to 27 June, with this year’s edition marked by the opening of the Cité Internationale du Cinéma d’Animation, a development that further cements Annecy’s status as the global capital of the animation industry. The Rencontres Musicales d’Évian classical festival follows from 24 June to 5 July, debuting a shell-inspired chamber music venue on the shores of Lake Geneva, while the Cosmojazz Festival, curated by André Manoukian, stages concerts in extraordinary high-altitude locations around Chamonix from 20 to 25 July.
Active travellers will find new reasons to linger. The vertiginous Pas du Roc trail in the Fillière valley, with stairways carved directly into the cliff face, has emerged as one of the region’s signature hiking routes. The ViaRhôna cycling network continues to expand with new greenway sections between Sciez and Excenevex and redesigned routes around the Monts du Genevois and Thonon-les-Bains. And from 5 to 7 June, the inaugural Baroudeurs des Alpes event will turn Samoëns into a cycling hub with both Gran Fondo road challenges and mountain-bike races on classic Alpine cols.
Niche offers are diversifying too. The Haut-Giffre valley has been awarded France’s “Toutourisme” label for dog-friendly tourism, with experiences ranging from doga (yoga with dogs) to cani-balades alongside Nordic breeds. And in Saint-Jean-de-Sixt, Flo Little Ranch, founded by barrel-racing champion Florence Pessey, is offering Western-style riding lessons and trail rides, transplanting a slice of American ranch culture into the Aravis massif.
The collective message from the region is clear: for the business traveller looking to bolt a couple of bleisure days onto a French trip this summer, Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc has rarely looked more compelling.
For more information visit hautesavoiemontblanc-tourisme.com.