When the Today show did a story on
Socotra Island in Yemen last month, the internet was a buzzin’. Far-flung destinations and out-there locations have always excited people’s minds and stirred imaginations.
Places like
Las Vegas and
New York just don’t excite anymore. Daily life is too fraught with distractions and interruptions. If you want your
Executive team thinking outside the box, you need to fly them outside of
Canada and away from their daily duties.
These fresh Executive retreat locations will refresh your team and incite creativity. Each offers a different take on what the
corporate retreat is all about. Either way, it’s time for you and your team to get away.
Inish Turk Beg
Sitting in
Clew Bay, on the West Coast of Ireland, the island of Inish Turk Beg is as extraordinary as its name. Irish-Egyptian businessman
Nadim Sadek and his wife bought the exotic island in 2003 and turned the "small island of the wild boar" into, among other things, a corporate retreat destination.
The 65 acres of private Inish Turk Beg host five island homes and a mainland cottage that will accommodate around 40 guests. The secluded island destination is ideal for shaping strategies and building teams as the beauty of Inish Turk Beg and its surroundings energise and inspire.
A corporate stay on the island offers first-class facilities; state-of-the-art meeting rooms boast professional audio-visual and presentation equipment, including projectors, sound systems and whiteboards. Mobile phone reception and fast Wi-Fi is available in every home and around most buildings across the island.
“Nothing prepared me for Inish Turk Beg, an island off the West Coast of Ireland. It is rugged, with spectacular scenery, vast seascapes, beautiful horizons and awe inspiring sunsets. The accommodation is stylish, comfortable and creates an environment where one can thrash ideas about as a group or break out in small teams,”
Frank Reed, former Worldwide CEO of
Virgin Active, was quoted on the island website.
Sand Dollar Estate Villa
The Sand Dollar Estate bills itself as the best
Caribbean corporate retreat location and retreat destination. Located on the Caribbean island of
St. Thomas in the
U.S. Virgin Islands, Sand Dollar Estate is a direct flight from most North American locations, the language is English, the weather is good year round and there's no jetlag involved.
The featured Sand Dollar Estate Villa is a luxurious 8 bedroom St. Thomas villa and guest cottage set on over two and a half acres. The Villa overlooks pristine
Magens Bay shoreline, just above the completely private beach and can accommodate up to 22 people.
Sand Dollar Estate Villa designs special menus throughout the corporate retreats. Known as the "
Sport Fishing Capital of the World," the Executive team can angle tarpon, snook, bonefish, marlin, tuna and wahoo. Nearby capital city of
Charlotte Amalie, offers great restaurants and nightclubs. Charlotte Amalie is also renowned for its world-class duty-free shopping, which the CFO will love to hear.
The tropical exclusive corporate retreat location is equipped with state-of-the art electronic equipment and technology and has a full office with PC/printer/fax/scanner/copier, DSL and WI-FI throughout the villa. The villa is minutes from
Cyril King International Airport.
Corporate STAR
While the Executive team may not actually travel to a strange land for this one, Corporate STAR delivers an out-of-this-world experience. Corporate STAR offers the ‘
Voyage to Mars’ simulation to “transport your team into an exciting space scenario.”
Each member, up to 32 people, receives pre-flight instructions and experiences two simulator locations: mission control (patterned after
NASA's Johnson Space Center) and the operations deck of a futuristic spacecraft. “Voyage to Mars” simulations are held at Challenger Learning Centers located throughout the US.
Can’t leave Canada? Corporate STAR’s e-mission "
Operation: Montserrat" is a portable simulation event that drops Executive teams into an emergency response scenario, such as a volcano explosion, and forces them to consider how to assess the immediate crisis, determine the best way to approach it and to execute the most effective solutions.
Jim Traver founded The Corporate STAR Program in 2002 to provide corporations with a unique alternative to corporate education and experiential learning. He has over 30 years of organization development and human resource experience. Vice President
John Broer joined the Company in 2004, bringing over 15 years of corporate training and facilitation skills. Broer’s areas of focus include sales, sales management, executive development and interactive adult learning.