Brief
Our client, a leading direct marketing agency in the charity sector was looking to produce an incentive scheme for their best performing fund-raisers. A long weekend with high octane activities and a sense of exclusivity was the simple brief.
A traditional corporate hospitality route would be far too ‘pedestrian’ for the predominantly young fund-raisers our client wanted to excite and motivate to perform at the level expected, so the incentive had to be an experience like no other.
The prize had to be a “once in a lifetime” experience and also a reflection of their exceptional performance for the company and their charity clients. The trip also had to have the appeal and prestige of previous schemes (a trip to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for example)
Response
Having discussed the brief, the location we all decided would be truly fantastic, and offer all the thrills you could possibly wish for was South Africa, and more specifically the truly beautiful Cape Town. With no time difference, dependable weather and, as we discovered, a plethora of high octane activities it turned out to be the perfect location. In addition, the hotel options in Cape Town are second to none and really added to the sense of glamour and prestige, exactly what the client was looking for.
The winners of the scheme were treated to a four night stay in the outstanding Cape Grace Hotel.
From their first day, the activities began with a cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain to take in the truly breath-taking views, followed by a less sedated descent, abseiling down the mountain, a perfect introduction to beautiful and adrenaline rich South Africa. On their first evening, they enjoyed a traditional South African feast for dinner, with tribal dancing thrown in on the side!
On day two guests were driven through the beautiful scenery of the Cape Point Nature Reserve where they saw ostrich, baboons, antelope and fynbos, indigenous to the Cape, before they cycled at speed down to the Cape of Good Hope. This was followed by a delicious seafood lunch at Black Marlin, after which the afternoon of thrills began in earnest. The guests were driven around The Cape of Storms in a high speed powerboat, a truly unique and exhilarating way to enjoy the stunning views and coast line at one of the most famous peninsulas in South Africa.
In the evening, to add a touch of exclusivity, the guests were escorted to a private yacht where they enjoyed a twilight champagne cruise and canapés whilst watching the beautiful sun set.
On day three things really started to develop, with a whole day of shark diving. With Great Whites just off the Cape, divers entered specially designed cages to get as close to these great specimens as possible, an adrenaline junkies dream! They managed to see nine sharks on the day, with several coming right up to the cage, only inches away from the guests wide eyed faces!
As a finale to the day, and to catch their breath, guests enjoyed a whisky tasting and dinner at the V&A Waterfront.
On day four, for a slightly different view of the city, all of the guests took a helicopter trip taking in Clifton, Camps Bay and the exclusive neighbourhood of Llandudno followed by lunch at Ernie Els’ private wine Estate on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountains.
To round off the trip and to ensure the guests last experience was one to savour, Cavendish arranged for an afternoon Waterford wine safari drive, for a 2 hour trip through the 120-ha Estate on the beautiful slopes of the Helderber safari type game viewing land rover.
On the final day, our guests explored beautiful Cape Town on their own terms, with a bout of shopping, relaxation in the beautiful hotel before the flight home.
All in all, we felt the brief was fulfilled, as just reading what is above, I begin the feel the adrenaline pumping into me! On top of that, the all-important glamour, exclusivity and VIP the client was really looking for was truly achieved. More importantly, the client felt so too, in their own words, this is their view on the programme:
“Well, Cape Town was a resounding success! From beginning to end everything ran like clockwork – your agents on the ground and our guide Lauren, in particular, did a fantastic job – the whole experience was faultless.
I like to think that I’m well-travelled and stay in a lot of 5 star hotels – but Cape Grace, was probably the best hotel experience I’ve ever had. All of the activities were simply great. The competition winners were totally bowled over by the whole experience and have gone back to their offices armed with lots of stories (and bragging rights!) to share with their colleagues. All in all – a top trip – more like this please! ”
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