The Welcoming Club at the Museum of Fine Arts

The Host Club, 2026 season

Every year, thousands of visitors ask their first questions to reception staff: at a hotel reception, the tourist office, a campsite, a museum, or a town hall. These brief exchanges shape the reputation of an entire region. To value and strengthen these interactions, Calais XXL launched the Welcome Club in 2025, which will feature numerous events throughout 2026.

A network born from the Ambassadors initiative

The Welcome Club is part of the Ambassadors initiative launched by Calais XXL since its inception. Its ambition is simple: to bring together staff who interact with the public and are part of the tourism ecosystem across the 14 municipalities of the region, regardless of their sector. Hotels, campsites, museums, shops, transport, town halls: anyone who guides, informs, or welcomes a visitor is eligible. The Club began with the teams at the major tourist attractions and is gradually expanding to include all stakeholders in the region.

Discover the Ambassadors approach

Focus

What the Club is actually building

Creating a format specifically for frontline staff is a way to take the ambassador program even further. The Welcome Club is based on four specific objectives: uniting professionals around the Calais XXL brand, building connections between teams that don't interact daily, showcasing sites that are recommended even if participants haven't visited them themselves, and promoting the diverse range of hospitality professions. Each meeting is organized in a different location within the region, precisely so that discovery becomes part of the experience.

Meet us on the field

Since its launch, the Club has met three times. In April 2025, the first meeting was held at Camping Calais La Plage This will be an opportunity for a comprehensive presentation of the Calais XXL brand, its values, and its tools. In January 2026, the Dragon Company opened its doors to Club members: presentation of data from the tourism observatory and a tour of the annual maintenance of the monumental machines, the Dragon of Calais and the Varan de Voyage. In April 2026, Beaux-arts museum hosted the third meeting on the Rodin trail, the presentation of the future exhibition and a time for discussion on welcoming future seasonal workers.

The April 2026 class photo of the Host Club

The Welcoming Club at the Dragon Company

The schedule of upcoming meetings

Three new dates have already been added to the 2026 calendar!

The 4 June The Club will meet at Beau-Pays Botanical Garden in Marck to discover this site often overlooked by professionals themselves, and for a presentation of the summer guided tour program and the team of tour guides.
In October, The meeting will be devoted to reviewing the season, with a joint visit to the Museum-Memory 39-45 and the Calais Aquarium.
In December, A friendly end-of-year gathering will conclude the year, in a location that is still being kept secret.