Experiencing the destination while building team spirit can be easy. We show you how with this selection.
Localing Private Tours Melbourne, Australia
Experience an Aboriginal twist to Australian footy. The Marngrook Indigenous Football Workshop will have delegates construct their version of the eponymous ball – known as Australia’s first football, it was orginally made out of possum skin and used by Aboriginal groups in Victoria.
Delegates will learn the marngrook’s history from an indigenous guide, join a football class, then play a footy game at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground. They will finish the day with a Wildlife After Dark experience with the owner of Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Park, where they can get up close with some of Australia’s most beloved animals. There are opportunities to feed kangaroos, cuddle and take selfies with koalas, or take dingos for a walk.
Capacity Up to 50
Contact chris@localingtours.com
Phnom Krom Eco Resort, Cambodia
This community-based recreational resort sits on a 100-hectare site nestled at the foot of Phnom Krom hill near Siem Reap.
A dedicated events team is on hand to curate teambuilding activities that offer a glimpse of rural Cambodian life.
A range of skills-based activities can be compiled for groups, such as riding ox carts, fishing Cambodian-style, helping local farmers plant or harvest crops (depending on the season), and boating on one of the four lakes the sprawling site straddles.
There is also the option of camping overnight on the resort’s grounds to experience Cambodia in the wild.
Capacity 30 to 1,000
Contact sales@empressangkor.com
Synergy Production – Travel & Events Business, Indonesia
The Jakarta-headquartered company has devised a teambuilding programme which explores Bogor – a town about an hour’s drive from Jakarta – with the help of an angkot, the prolific minivans that locals depend for their daily commute.
The programme starts with hopping on the Jakarta-Bogor commuter line, a popular rail transport option between the two cities. Upon arrival in Bogor, participants are divided into groups, assigned one angkot per group and given a sum of money. They are then asked to join a Facebook page dedicated to the event on which instructions are given.
Tasks include tracking down and tasting local dishes, visit attractions in the area, and reaching the finish line during a stipulated timeframe.
Aside from learning how to work together, bargaining skills are also tested as the more money left at the end of the tasks, the better chances the team has of winning.
Capacity 30 to 500
Contact eddy@synergyproduction.net
Atelier Tsuzuki, Japan
Soba – or buckwheat noodles – is one of Shikoku’s famed specialities, and deep in the valleys of Tokushima’s rugged mountains sits a quiet studio run by Tsuzuki-san, an elderly soba master who supplies the noodles to restaurants and hotels across the region. Classes taught by Tsuzuki-san are peaceful, fun and challenging at the same time.
Here, participants are guided through the multi-step soba-making process, from grinding soba grains with a traditional hand-powered mill to soaking the noodles in a cold bath. The workshop is followed by a meal of vegetable tempura, cold dishes, and free-flow soba. Tsuzuki-san then brings the session to a heart-stirring end with a short performance of her award-winning folk singing.
Capacity Two to 15
Contact iyajiman.com / (81) 883 88 5625
Borneo Trails Tours & Travel, Malaysia
This activity takes delegates to eastern Sabah to experience the native Rungus tribe’s rustic way of life.
To get there, groups take a scenic, three-hour drive from Kota Kinabalu to Kudat, arriving by early evening.
A treasure hunt – revolving around the destination and local culture of the Rungus – is first on the agenda, followed by a dinner accompanied by cultural performances and storytelling. Delegates will then retire into traditional wooden longhouses for the night.
Early the next morning, the group is divided into teams, all bound for the forest. Several teams are assigned to look for firewood, while the others will pick wild edibles. The two teams will then converge to build a fire, cook a meal out of the various ingredients sourced from the jungle. Later in the day, participants will also learn how to weave traditional baskets known as rinago, as well as beaded necklaces, all of which are souvenirs that they can take home.
Capacity Four to 15
Contact bernadette@borneotrails.com
Im-Active Travel and Business Events, the Philippines
This tour agency in Pasay City offers a teambuilding programme in Bohol that can cover a range of activities depending on the planner’s objectives.
Possible itineraries include a driving competition around Bohol’s Chocolate Hills; handmaking souvenirs like wallets, bags, and mats guided by raffia loom weavers; harvesting cacao to make hot chocolate; and learning from artisans to concoct coconut jam.
Mini competitions, while learning Filipino dances like tinikling and pandanggo, can spice up the itinerary.
A visit to nipa palm groves can also be arranged, where participants will learn how nipa leaves are used to create thatched roofing for local houses, turn the palm fruit into a sweet kaong for a fruit salad, as well as make vinegar and local wine from nipa sap called lambanog.
Capacity Six to 100
Contact im.activeteam@gmail.com
Xperience Singapore Events & Travel
A popular team sport in Singapore with roots tracing as far back as 2,500 years, dragonboat racing offers an exhilarating experience that fosters coordination and teamwork against the unique backdrop of the Singapore skyline.
In this two-hour session, groups will learn from an expert trainer how to paddle and balance a 10-seater practice boat, and observe a steersman in action.
Teams will then row down Marina Reservoir with views of the Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Barrage. The session also includes an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of “The Nursery”, a storage space for the dragon heads and tails that adorn the competition boats.
Capacity Four to 300
Contact contact@xperiencedmc.com
HiveSters, Thailand
HiveSters, along with its sister project, Local Thai Kitchen (a social enterprise preserving disappearing Thai food culture through sustainable tourism), believes that food is capable of connecting people. It runs a few teambuilding programmes centred around Thai cuisine, where groups can taste new items, learn to cook dishes, or be challenged in gamified, fun face-offs.
Groups can hunt for delicious local food in the community and experience cooking with local masters – think aunties and grannies in local communities – in the Foodie Treasure Hunt. Or choose Cooking Battle, where teams compete against each other to prepare Thai dishes with the help of step-by-step recipes, and aim to earn the highest score from local masters. There’s also a Food Blind Tasting activity, where more adventurous groups are blindfolded and have to figure out what they are eating. The group with the most correct answers wins!
Capacity Foodie Treasure Hunt (10 to 180); Food blind tasting battle (10 to 100); Cooking battle (four to 30)
Contact bookme@hivesters.com
