What Distributed Companies Ask Their DMC in 2026

A complete brief is the first thing a DMC in France needs, and the one most often incomplete. A brief that describes the event but not its purpose makes it hard to design anything useful. A distributed company should state why it is meeting, which decisions or outcomes it expects, how many people will attend and from which cities or countries they travel. It should also give the time zones involved, because a participant in New York or Singapore needs a different arrival plan from one based in Lyon.

The brief should add a budget ceiling per person, the number of nights, accessibility and dietary needs, and the name of the person who approves the proposal. In our experience, a clear ceiling produces better first proposals than an open request for ideas, because it lets the designer work to a real budget rather than to a range of possibilities.

Lead times depend on the venue type and the calendar. Privatised châteaux, boutique hotels and popular restaurants in Paris and on the Riviera are often booked months ahead, particularly for weekends and for the autumn and spring periods. Buyers now usually state a decision date in the brief, and ask for two or three options at different budget levels, so that the DMC can place provisional holds while internal approval runs.

The calendar also includes French public holidays, school holidays and periods when transport may be disrupted. Strikes can affect rail and air travel with little notice, so a responsible plan includes a fallback route and a clear rule for who decides when a transport change is needed. Ask the DMC to show provisional hold dates and release conditions in writing.

Sustainability questions are now standard in briefs, and the most useful answers are specific. Ask for the transport mode for each leg, an estimate of emissions per participant with the method used, and the version of the emission factors. The ADEME Base Empreinte database is the French public reference, and its values are updated, so the figures in an older proposal may no longer be current. Ask the DMC which version it used.

The regulatory context matters too. Under the Climate and Resilience Act and its implementing decree of May 2023, domestic flights are prohibited on routes where a train journey of under two hours and thirty minutes exists, unless at least half of the passengers are connecting. In practice few routes are affected, but the rule shapes which options a DMC should present. Also ask where food is sourced, how waste is managed at the venue, and whether suppliers can document their claims rather than describe them in general terms.

Accessibility is often treated as a checklist at the end of a proposal, but it shapes the venue, the routes and the schedule from the start. In France, the national Tourisme & Handicap label, managed by Atout France, assesses establishments against four categories of disability: motor, mental, visual and auditory. A venue may hold the label for only some of them, so a DMC should state which categories are covered, rather than describe a venue as accessible in general.

Ask for step-free routes between arrival points, meeting rooms and dining areas, the location of quiet rooms, hearing loops or captioning where needed, and accessible transport options at each stage. Digital tools matter too. The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to certain services, including websites, apps and electronic ticketing for passenger transport, so booking flows and travel information should be checked as part of the brief.

For journeys between Paris and the main regional cities, the TGV is often the most practical option. Paris to Lyon takes about two hours, Paris to Bordeaux about two hours by direct service, and Paris to Marseille a little over three hours. Trains run from city centre to city centre, avoid airport check-in, generally have fewer luggage restrictions than flights, and are easier to rebook when plans change. For a group travelling together, a DMC can request seats together on the same train.

Air becomes more sensible for long distances, for journeys starting far away, or where a multi-city itinerary links places that rail does not connect directly. Compare total door-to-door time, not only the duration of the main leg. A proposal showing the time from office to hotel, transfers included, is more useful than a single headline figure. Ask the DMC to present both options and the emissions of each.

Contracts with a DMC should match the risks of the programme. Ask for a clear list of inclusions, a cancellation schedule that distinguishes supplier cancellations from participant cancellations, and a statement on what happens when transport is disrupted. Rail tickets have their own change and refund rules, which differ by fare type, so the DMC should say which fares it has booked and how flexible they are.

Data protection belongs in the brief too. A list of participants with names, dates of birth or passport details is personal data, and the DMC should explain how it stores and shares that data and when it deletes it after the event. For travel to France from outside the EU, check the status of border systems before departure. The EU has planned an authorisation scheme called ETIAS, whose launch has been rescheduled more than once, so requirements should be confirmed close to the date rather than taken from older guidance.