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Planning a corporate retreat at a luxury hotel or resort? There are a number of factors to consider, so we'll share our tips for making it a successful one.
1. Pick the Right Time
Pick a time that's typically less busy for your company's industry, since employees stressed with major deal flow or work deadlines defeats the purpose of a company retreat. Also avoid major holiday periods, as well as school start and school graduation time frames; even if you're used to working during holidays and/or you don't have kids, it's important to be aware of these conflicts with others' schedules.
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2. Plan Far Enough in Advance (But Not Too Far in Advance)
We've seen smaller companies plan less than two months in advance, but more typical lead time is five-nine months in advance. Large company retreats of 100+ attendees should plan a year in advance or more, since it will be harder to find a venue to accommodate so many people. It's important to give attendees enough lead time, since some may have planned time off or vacations many months in advance, and as we discuss below, it's not always easy for attendees with young kids to arrange childcare. At the same time, be aware that special group rates are far more restrictive than regular individual hotel stays. Typically, in order to obtain a lower group rate, there will be a minimum F&B (food and beverage) cost built into the package, and the entire amount will be non-refundable within a certain number of months prior to the event, depending on the venue.
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3. Pick a Location Easy to Get to For Most Attendees
Given the current challenges and delays many U.S. airlines are still facing, avoid destinations that are served by fewer airlines or that would require many attendees to take connecting flights to get to. While companies with attendees coming from both coasts might consider it equitable to have a retreat in the middle of the country, if there are more attendees in a given area, we highly recommend making it driving distance for them and having other attendees fly in.
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4. Try to Keep Retreats to 2 Nights
Keep in mind that for attendees who have children, particularly young children, being away even for two nights is fairly disruptive. The attendee's spouse or partner may also have a highly demanding job, and they may not have family living nearby, which will mean getting outside help to look after the kids. Or the attendee may be a single parent, which can make things even harder.
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5. Balance Business with Experiential Team Building and Downtime
Particularly for companies with many staff working remotely, a key focal point of a company retreat is being able to connect in person those who work together online but rarely see each other face to face. But don't overwhelm the retreat with too many meetings; a good rule of thumb is 20-25% of time for work and meetings, 30-35% of the time fun, interactive events such as a wine tasting or outdoor activity, and the remaining 40-50% of the time as relaxing free time.
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6. Work with a Luxury Travel Advisor or Corporate Retreat Planner
Assuming you'll be reserving at least 10 rooms, you can likely obtain a group rate on your own. But did you know that working with a luxury travel advisor or corporate retreat planner will likely get you more benefits and potential concessions if your planned retreat venue is at a luxury hotel or resort? For example, recently, for a Virtuoso property, we were able to reduce a client's F&B minimum by over 35% and reduced the conference meeting room cost by 50%. We also reduced the group rate for the rooms in exchange for closing the deal sooner, reduced resort fee by 50% and negotiated a confirmed VIP upgrade for the company's owner.
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