Taking the team to unwind, but still out to foster team spirit? These resorts are good places to do just that.
Sibu Island Resort, Malaysia
On Johor Island off the East Coast of Malaysia, Sibu Island Resort (pictured above) offers a selection of team building programmes implemented by in-house trainers. These include Telematch, composed of games such as Plumber, where they fill up a bottle with water and then transport it to another, and Miss Universe, where members nominate a team mate to represent them in a mock pageant. There is also the Sibu Amazing Race with puzzles as well as canoe and rafting races, and a night expedition around the island called Journey to the Unknown.
Apart from organising their own activities, Sibu Island also hosts programmes by team building specialist Outward Bound Malaysia, which involve high ropes, rappelling, group camping, a kayak expedition, as well as survival training.
Activities are charged on a per head basis for groups of 25, starting at MYR30 (US$10), while team building programme packages — with set activities and accommodation — start at MYR523 (US$169) per person. Packages may be customised for a smaller team.
Terrace Downs, New Zealand
At the base of Mt Hutt and overlooking the scenic Rakaia River Gorge, Terrace Downs in Canterbury, New Zealand offers a variety of activities from boat tours along the Rakaia River, helicopter trips, horse safaris, fly casting and spin casting, clay-bird shooting, archery and paintball. Groups can opt to combine several activities as they choose. Popular are the Mini-Olympics Team Challenge where groups compete in clay-bird shooting and archery and the heli-jet combo, for shooting out in the waves (pictured above) and flying over scenic landscapes in a helicopter.
Off site, with the help of third-party suppliers, Terrace Downs also offers to arrange hot air balloon trips and helicopter flights. Each activity is priced from a group rate of NZ$75 (US$61) on top of accommodation, which starts at NZ$750 (US$610) a night.
Misibis Bay, The Philippines
Located along Cagraray Island in Bacacay, Albay – a province southeast of Metro Manila – Misibis Bay is a private luxury resort with team building offerings such as Amazing Race, which includes kayak races, raft building challenges and the traditional kadang-kadang race that has team members maneuver themselves on stilts made with rope or bamboo attached to coconut shells.
Outside of the resort, the Cagraray Ecopark serves as the facility to conduct paint ball games and has high and low ropes, ladder courses and zip lining activities.
Team building packages start at PHP2,500 (US$60) per person, although the resort offers special packages inclusive of meals, accommodation and the activities. Discounts are offered to those booking 10 rooms or more.
Paradise Palms Resort & Country Club, Australia
Nestled between the World Heritage Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, North Queensland is Paradise Palms Resort & Country Club, which offers golf workshops and mini tournaments and fun activities such as Jumping Pillow Relay and My Cocktail Rules.
In the pillow relay, delegates try to balance their way along a 20-metre, trampoline-like surface (pictured above), and for an added challenge, transport a bucket of water from one end to the other. In My Cocktail Rules, the resort’s resident mixologist will hold a crash course for delegates in beverage preparation, after which, they are challenged to concoct their own drink and compete for a prize.
Rates are priced based on a minimum of 10 delegates per group, with the Jumping Pillow activity at AU$15 (US$16) per person, the golf clinic at AU$25 (US$26) and the cocktail course at AU$70 (US$73), in additionn to accommodation.
Deevana Patong Resort & Spa, Thailand
Situated in Patong, Phuket, minutes away from the island’s popular shopping and entertainment districts, Deevana Patong Resort & Spa hosts group activities on its lush premises with the help of expert team building organisers. Open green space, spacious function rooms, swimming pools and the beach are made available for activities such as dragon boat races, cooking challenges, scavenger hunts and cultural activities and immersions.
The Iron Chefs of Phuket challenge by DreamTeam Adventures gets groups to shop for ingredients, figure out a way to borrow some of the hotel’s cooking equipment, come up with their own dishes and present their meals in the finest way possible, using available resources.
Corporate Cultural Creations, on the other hand, exposes groups to Thai culture and shows them the intricacies of local crafts, including fruit carving, batik painting and spicy papaya salad making, after which participants can take a crack at creating, themselves.
Corporations may plan their team building activities by first informing the hotel’s event coordinators of their plans and objectives. Based on this, several activities are proposed in a suggested itinerary. The entire team building package is fully customised to the group’s itinerary preferences and rooming arrangements.
Groups of up to 80 may be accommodated for the programmes.
Johna Baylon
