Team Building and Language School Treasure Hunts. A European visitors guide.

By Tim Carter (Owner of Black Cat Treasure Hunts)

One of the features of this Summer/Autumn`s team building treasure hunts and Language school treasure hunts have been the distinct European feel to them. For starters three Norwegian groups have experienced their first Black Cat treasure hunt. The last group was an IT company which had merged with one from Sweden. This Scandinavian contest was won narrowly by a group from Norway, however in second was a Swedish team that benefitted from the guest appearance of a journalist from the local Brighton Argus newspaper. Hopefully, the Argus has an Oslo or Stockholm office as the Norwegian group certainly enjoyed themselves on a route starting at the Maldron hotel and finishing at Il Duomo, an Italian restaurant.
The third of the three Norwegian bookings was some kind of investment company. This treasure hunt was sited in Hastings. I felt excited as I had developed an extended route beyond the Old Town to the West. On the day heavy rain for over the first hour dampened my spirits. I wondered what sort of mood they would be in at the end as I marked their challenge photos via WhatsApp in another part of town. I should not have worried. We all met at a pub for the marking and then de-camped to a nearby fish and chip shop (Master Fish bar for the record) for the announcements of the winning team. Norwegians are made of stern stuff, and a bit of rain had not bothered them. A Viking spirit saw them complete everything though.
A group of 25 Austrian 18 and 19 year olds recently concluded a language week in Brighton with a competitive treasure hunt around the city. I arranged a classic route from the train station, winding down to finish at The Tempest bar on the seafront. At one stage I thought the team of boys were going to win with some imaginative challenge photos/videos. However, they finished the treasure hunt relatively quickly and as a result missed out some of the questions. A mixed team of boys and girls complemented each other better and came through for the win.
A Westminster treasure hunt back in the middle of Summer (still rained a bit- who said it was the driest Summer on record?) featured French, Italians, Belgians (and a token Japanese to break up the European domination). This one was a slightly younger group to the Austrian visitors but nevertheless completed a large amount of the treasure hunt in a time limited event.
Coming up next month are 50, year 9 Germans. Arriving from Heidelberg I am expecting great things from them with a circular route finishing at Brighton pier the plan. Scandinavian and, to be fair, Austrian command of English is perfect and I did not compromise with the type of questions I included. Interestingly, although maybe they were younger, it is the French students who require a more straightforward selection of questions and vocabulary. At this point I should add that I would be straight on Google translate if the roles were reversed!
I will always have a video challenge involving finding something typically (insert relevant nation), which is often humorous and interesting. For example, my last Norwegian group produced video clips of a love song about the sea, a pack of salmon, a mural featuring a Viking longboat and something about dressing as twins! The Austrians included beer, Spritz, a brilliant Waltz and an Austrian sausage, the name of which now escapes me now but was superbly spotted by one of the teams.
So... if you are a travel agent for Scandinavians, an Austrian teacher visiting Brighton for the first time, a German international school or just that you are looking to host one of your European offices with an entertaining and original activity then please get in touch. 
Ihr Gastgeber (that`s German for your host!) will be me, Tim.      Contact: Info@blackcattreasurehunts.co.uk or call (01323) 655346 or 00 44 1323655346 from Europe.