Reward Your Team with a Queenstown Incentive Trip

Reward your team and your loyal customers. Boost their wellbeing while extending their potential for productivity and innovation. From adventures that will challenge them physically and mentally, to opportunities to reset in a breathtaking natural setting, Queenstown is the place for reflection, transformation, and connection. Plan your next incentive trip with this guide to Queenstown business incentive experiences.

Extraordinary Rewards Tailored for High Achievers

Queenstown overdelivers on those ‘money can’t buy’ experiences, moments so special and memorable they can only happen in Queenstown.

Our local incentive planning experts can tailor an experience for your team. Whether you’d like to facilitate an extraordinary strategy session, learn from local entrepreneurs, or push your team out of their comfort zone, Queenstown delivers moments that will have your team fired up and inspired, even when they’re back at their desks.

Here are five ideas for remarkable incentive experiences to whet your appetite.

1. Arrange for your team to be greeted at the airport by local Māori, the Tangata Whenua or people of this land. Connect with indigenous culture, before taking a jetboat down the Kawarau River into Lake Whakatipu, to arrive at your hotel in style.
2. Discover Central Otago’s famous Pinot Noir and aromatic white varietals with a bespoke wine tasting tour by bike or in a fleet of luxury EVs.
3. Celebrate your team’s success by flying them to the top of a mountain for a glass of bubbles. Head to a remote mountain valley with hampers full of local produce for an indulgent picnic lunch. Or fly to a West Coast beach for champagne and fish and chips.
4. Immerse your team in a unique blend of luxury and sustainability at Sherwood, known for its focus on wellness, garden-to-plate fine dining and natural beauty. Connect and recharge amidst Queenstown’s breathtaking landscapes.
5. Experience a bespoke luxury cruise on a private superyacht in the middle of Lake Whakatipu. Your chef serves up local flavours while you drink in the scenery.

Reconnect with Nature Amidst Inspiring Natural Beauty

From the minute your team arrives in Queenstown, people know they’re somewhere remarkable. The vast scale of the Queenstown landscape, with its majestic mountains, mighty glacier-fed rivers and ancient forests, restores the soul.

We’ve all experienced moments of awe at natural beauty. Queenstown delivers those moments around every corner. Everyday concerns melt away, and people open their horizons to new possibilities, and connect with each other in new ways.

You don’t have to go far to reconnect with nature in Queenstown. People only have to look out their hotel window to have their mind blown. There are short walks and bike rides to give your team a taste of wilderness, minutes from the centre of town. No matter how packed your incentive trip itinerary, it’s easy to venture into nature, spend time and reconnect.

Experience the Challenge and Exhilaration of Adventure

Incentive experiences can reward and extend your team’s potential by expanding their boundaries. One of the world’s top resort destinations, Queenstown has a vast array of activities, from wild to mild.

Challenge your team with New Zealand’s highest bungy jump, the world’s steepest zipline, a gnarly canyon swing, or a sky dive over the Southern Alps. Head out into the wild beauty of backcountry to tramp or climb with expert guides or take to the bike trails for a guided tour that will connect people with local culture, heritage, ecology, and geology.

Queenstown also offers gentler adventures. Jetboating and 4WD tours still pack a thrill. For a more sedate adventure, play New Zealand's finest golf courses, or experience a breath-taking lake cruise, sightseeing flight, or a wine tour with a storytelling guide.

Teambuilding activities include scavenger hunts, orienteering, or volunteering to remove invasive wilding pines. These collaborative adventures extend your team to solve challenges together and demonstrate your values in action.

Recharge & Boost Wellbeing with a Wellness Retreat

In Queenstown, top performers can play hard, then relax with a dose of restorative wellbeing in a stunning setting. Start each morning with yoga to realign bodies and boost energy ahead of the day’s activities. Ease muscles after a day of exertion soaking in hot pools with stunning views over the Shotover River or Lake Whakatipu.

Queenstown’s luxurious day spas are ideal for your team to get their glow on with a spa treatment before a big gala dinner. Or book your team into a wellness retreat for an immersive programme that recharges them fully. Aro Ha was rated New Zealand's Best Wellness Retreat in the 2021 World Spa Awards and has 17 other international awards under its belt. The Headwaters Eco Lodge hosts regular wellness retreats offering meditation, mindfulness, and yoga. Motivate your top performers to go further, extend their potential, and bring Queenstown’s energy back to work.

Indulge Your Team with Spectacular Food & Wine

Round out your incentive trip experience by exploring Queenstown’s food and wine scene. Choose from over 150 bars, restaurants, and cafés, where celebrated local chefs serve up seasonal, local produce as award-winning cuisine. Experience one of Queenstown’s celebrated fine dining restaurants and meet the chef, enjoy eating al fresco, book a private dining space, or host your team in one of our stunning event venues.

25 minutes from Queenstown, Gibbston is the world’s southernmost wine region. Treat your team to a wine tour to sample Central Otago’s celebrated Pinot Noirs and aromatic whites and meet the winemakers. Take a tour of local craft breweries and explore Queenstown’s quirky craft beer scene. Or try a gin tasting masterclass at Rifters Gin in Arrowtown.

Book Your Team an Exclusive Retreat

Queenstown has a number of spectacular venues you can book as basecamp for your incentive trip. These exclusive retreats combine luxurious accommodation with places to gather for strategy sessions, or to relax as a team. Get away from it all with a secluded lodge in the mountains or hire a boutique hotel in the heart of the Queenstown buzz, while your own private chef whips up memorable meals with the freshest local ingredients.

Hulbert House is an intimate, boutique hotel experience in a restored Victorian villa with seven rooms in Queenstown. Luxurious linens, morning tea treats, and pre-dinner drinks and canapes will make your team feel like they’re staying in a luxurious private home.

Eichardt’s Private Hotel offers seven luxurious suites in a heritage building and a modern extension. They also have apartments and two nearby luxury residences if you have a bigger group. This historic hotel is atmospheric and indulgent in equal measure.

The Rees Hotel provides elegant lakeside accommodation, private villas, and award-winning dining with views of Lake Whakatipu. Ideal for larger incentive groups, it provides elevated hospitality, stunning vistas, and bespoke luxury tailored to your team’s needs.

Rosewood Matakauri sits on the hill just outside Queenstown, with panoramic views of Lake Whakatipu and the surrounding peaks. There are 13 rooms, plenty of indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, and garden-to-plate dining at this luxurious refined lodge.

The Headwaters Eco Lodge has 14 private chalets in the beautiful wild surrounds of Glenorchy, with spaces for meeting, lounging, and dining. There’s a shelter outside with a fire, and native gardens with magnificent mountain vistas. Ideal for teams who want to explore.

Gibbston Valley Lodge has 24 sunny private villas in an organic vineyard, a wine cellar, movie theatre, private meeting rooms, and a central lodge area with a fireplace, bar and indoor/outdoor dining options, as well as an on-site spa.

Queenstown private accommodation specialists MajorDomo and Touch of Spice have Queenstown’s finest private retreats on their books. Choose from architect designed lakeside retreats, a lodge with butler, chef, and sommelier, or picture-perfect rural cottages.

We’re Here to Help Organise Your Queenstown Incentive

Get in touch with the Queenstown Convention Bureau team for free, impartial advice and create a business incentive trip that electrifies. Our local event experts can help you arrange accommodation, events, and activities for all styles and budgets.