We are the powerhouse for alpine tourism areas.
We are LAAX Academy. We help tourism areas to become even better than we already are.
Why are we doing this?
Because we believe that only by joining forces we can secure the future of tourism.
“Creating a better world requires partnerships and collaboration, as we need to work together to build a better world.”
Simon Mainwaring
Our Expertise
Guest convenience through digital solutions
Innovation as part of the corporate culture
Attractive employer through effective employer branding
Sustainability as a principle of design in all areas
Future-proof infrastructure through clever partnership models
Freestyle competence at world class level
Our ExpertS
Reto Gurtner
Innovation, Vision & Strategy
Reto grew up in his father's butcher store in Flims and with the Crap Sogn Gion ski lifts and mountain railroads founded by his father. When he took over the business with his brother Walter after the early death of his father in the 1980s, this was the beginning of LAAX as one of the most successful and innovative ski resorts in Switzerland. In the years that followed, he steadily developed the business and positioned the mountain destination as the world's best freestyle resort. It is not without reason that he is called the "rockstar of mountain resort chiefs": He is a pioneer and visionary in his field, continuously looking for new ideas to further position his resort as a leader in innovation and sustainability. For instance, Laax is set to become the world's first CO2-neutral ski resort.
Markus Wolf
Innovation, Operation & Strategy
Since March 2020, Markus has been CEO of the Weisse Arena Group with the goal of leading the organization efficiently and successfully and making it constantly fit for the future. Markus can look back on a range of experience in managing organizations. Thus, the former director of the Swiss Ski Federation brings "calm and reliability" (NZZ, 2017) to organizations. His focus with WAG is on achieving maximum agility - new role models, high transparency, flexible structures and stringent and consistent target constructs with short planning cycles and consistent digitalization are the thrusts of current organizational development. Markus proves in his daily work that he does not rest on his laurels, but always questions himself and thus, especially in current times of crisis, drives the organization forward.
Prof. Dr. Maximilian Lude
Innovation, Transformation & Employer Branding
Max is the managing director and founder of philoneos GmbH, a future bureau for family businesses based in Munich. Together with his team, he is dedicated to providing strategic support to organizations with a focus on innovation and transformation. In this way, he was able to accompany a successful transformation together with the Weisse Arena Group, with the goal of making the organization more efficient and more innovative at the same time. According to Max, this balance is an important key to cross-generational success. Max currently holds the Chair of Innovation at the Technical University of Munich - in the process, he regularly publishes in renowned journals, gives talks at leading (scientific) conferences and stands in lecture halls both nationally and internationally. He is a passionate lecturer, impatient troublemaker and naive optimist.
Sebastian Bartling
Innovation, Transformation & Corporate Venturing
Next to Max, Basti is the second managing director and founder of philoneos GmbH. Previously, he spent several years at Google in Dublin advising national and international companies on complex brand strategies and innovation projects. At philoneos, he set up and managed both new innovation and corporate venture capital units together with companies in the course of major transformation processes. A meaningful and coordinated interaction of diverse innovation activities, tailored to the corporate context, is an important guarantor of success. Besides his work at philoneos, Basti is a passionate hobby lecturer at various universities in Europe, an enthusiastic sportsman and a naive questioner.
Reto Poltera
Freestyle & Employer Branding
"Freestyle. Lifestyle. Greenstyle." Reto Poltéra lives this triad in his chosen home of LAAX. At the age of 23, he moved from Zurich to Graubünden and, together with the current president of WAG, Reto Gurtner, fundamentally changed Swiss winter tourism. Their shared vision was born out of many trips to California: Bringing the West Coast spirit of California to the snow of Graubünden. 30 years later, after Reto followed his vision as a young snowboarder, he now heads the Education & Equipment department at the most prestigious winter resort for freestylers. His visions have not diminished in the process: Energy-autonomous, white yet green, fun instead of chasing seconds - this is how Reto Poltéra sees the future of Laax and is working on its realization with his years of expertise and unbridled passion.
Claudio Deplazes
Agile Project Management & Steering
Aligning different people from different companies and institutions towards one goal, structuring and managing projects, focusing on the big picture without losing sight of the important details - that is Claudio's world. With his broad business and methodological backpack and his passion for tourism destinations, he not only develops goal-oriented strategies "on the drawing board", but also likes to implement them himself. His areas of expertise include mountain railroads, tourism organizations, business development and SMEs in various industries.
Reto Fry
Sustainability
Reto knows what it takes to run a tourism destination sustainably. Since 2010, the Tourism Manager FH has been developing visions and strategies as well as projects in the areas of energy, transport, waste, water, food and purchasing, biodiversity, sustainable building and communication for the Weisse Arena Group. As a founding member and managing director of the Greenstyle Foundation and member of the foundation committee of the Swiss Greina Foundation, he continues his commitment to environmental protection in mountain and tourism regions. Reto Fry's biggest goal: to transform the destination FLIMS/LAAX from an energy consumer into a producer of regional, renewable energy.
Dr. Laura Bechthold
Innovation, Transformation & Sustainability
Dr. Laura Bechthold researches and works on the topics of innovation, resilience, sustainability and leadership in SMEs. In the past years, she has accompanied several transformation and innovation projects - from SMEs to the United Nations World Food Programme. In her work, she puts special emphasis on knowledge transfer between science and practice as well as the use of co-creative methods to engage different stakeholder groups.
Adrian Wolf
Partnership & Corporate Models
As CFO and member of the Executive Board, Adrian was responsible for finance and human resources within the Weisse Arena Group for over 20 years. During this time, he was involved in various restructurings (mergers, spin-offs, start-ups), which he helped to shape and implement. In addition, Adrian was jointly responsible for the "Public Private Partnership" (Finanz Infra AG, Cassons AG) and "buy to use and let" (rocksresort) flagship projects, which were new and unique in the tourism industry at the time.
Julian Barros
Change Management
Guiding people and organizations through change is Julian's focus. In recent years, he has helped international corporations, medium-sized businesses, as well as family-owned companies to develop further through a workshop-based approach and accompanied them through various change projects. As a trainer and business coach, he is responsible for the conception, coordination and implementation of customized training courses as part of transformation and innovation projects.
Jakob Ledermann
Employer Branding, Strategy & Marketing
Jakob studied in Munich and Dublin and is specialized in Marketing & Strategy and Strategic Organization. He is an expert in the field of employer branding and future generations. In addition to the strategic conception and innovative communication of the employer brand, he is particularly concerned with the topics of identity, culture and values, incorporating first-hand the concerns of the next generations of employees. In this way, existing employees are retained and new talents are attracted to the company.
How we do it
With co-creative workshop formats and conceptual support at eye level.
