Enrich your incentive travel

Enrich your incentive travel program with 6 key cultural experiences

Incentive travel can be a hugely motivating tool, but what if it could be transformative too? Take your itinerary and your teams’ performance to new heights with an immersive, cultural experience.

Create an aspirational travel package that delivers something completely different – something unforgettable; cultural experiences that your teams can live, breathe, taste and share. 

Why cultural experiences are important in incentive travel

We live and work in a geographically dispersed world, which can mean teamworking across very different cultures and backgrounds. While diversity brings unique opportunities, it can also pose some challenges – for example, what’s ‘rude’ in once culture might be perceived very differently in another, just as hierarchical structures can function very differently depending on where you live. 

By giving your teams the chance to authentically experience First Nations culture, you’ll enable them to connect with a different way of life and different ways of thinking. In doing so, we can all gain new perspectives and an appreciation of difference.
For visitors to the Gold Coast, engaging with Indigenous culture is an important part of understanding what it means to be Australian. Create an itinerary that allows attendees to experience Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customs, food, art and more, for a truly unforgettable cultural adventure.

Indigenous experiences on the Gold Coast

While the Gold Coast is rich with all sorts of unique activities, including authentic Indigenous experiences will ensure a deeper – more meaningful – connection with our beautiful country and your one-of-a-kind incentive program.  Not only that, but it’s an important opportunity to show your support for First Nations people and businesses. 
Here are 6 great ways you can infuse local culture into your itinerary, and create truly motivating, experiential travel.

1.Welcome to Country
Begin your incentive trip with a Welcome to Country from Traditional Owners/Custodians of the land on which the event takes place. The Welcome to Country is an historic protocol of respect that harks back to a time when land owner boundaries were very clear, and visits into another group’s Country meant asking permission to enter. Being ‘welcomed’ meant safe passage and spiritual protection, in return for abiding by local rules.  

A Welcome to Country is about Aboriginal people acknowledging the past, and looking to the future, and might include singing and dancing, smoking ceremonies or a speech. 

2. Journey to Dreaming mountain
“Journey to a land where time stood still. Where white fingers of sand stretched into the mangroves and the Dreamtime giant, Jabreen, stood guard over Burleigh.” Immerse your teams in Aboriginal history and culture as they enjoy one of the Gold Coast's oldest Dreaming stories, 'The creation of Jellurgal'.

Book a guided beachside rainforest walk along Jellurgal mountain, hosted by an Indigenous elder from the Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre, to learn more about traditional life, bush tucker staples, fishing and hunting and, importantly, First Nations’ ecological practices. 

3. No tour is complete without a cooling dip in the spectacular, sparkling waters of Tallebudgera Creek.

4. Taste the tucker
Tap into the quintessential Aussie experience on the Tweed River, with opportunities to have a go at fishing, yabby pumping and mud crab catching. Your teams will learn all about the local waterways and what it means to live off the land, before settling back to enjoy morning tea and an authentic bush tucker tasting. 

Tweed Eco Cruises are committed to sustainable tours and supporting food and beverage producers from across the Gold Coast region by locally sourcing all the goodies they serve. 

5.Meet the locals
Australian scientist, Dr. David Fleay, was known as ‘Australia’s Father of Conservation’, the wildlife park named in his honour, today specialises in native species that are threatened or rare to spot in the wild.

See brolgas, jabiru, owls and cassowaries housed in natural habitat-inspired enclosures, as well as Australia’s most iconic animals - crocodiles, kangaroos, koalas, tree kangaroos, snakes, lizards and gliders. The only park on the Gold Coast where guests can see a platypus, David Fleay Wildlife Park is also home to the shy bridled nail tail wallaby, thought for over 30 years to have been extinct!

Delegates can then explore the nearby Tallebudgera Creek mangrove boardwalk to discover the area's cultural significance for the Kombumerri people. 

6. Keep culture alive
For over 40,000 years, traditional Aboriginal dance has been used to share stories, passed down through the generations, about the land, animals, dreamtime, and Aboriginal people. Dance and ritual are core parts of the cultural and spiritual life of Australian Indigenous peoples. Now your teams can enjoy the percussive rhythm of the clapsticks, vibrations of the didgeridoo and their melodious vocals, thanks to the Yugambeh Aboriginal Dance Group.

They’ll find out more about local First Nations culture as the troupe share their ancient knowledge through traditional songs, stories, and dance, paying respect to the Indigenous people of the Gold Coast. 

7. Share the love
Erica Eurell, founder of Dreamtime Artistry and a traditional custodian from the Yugambeh language group, can ensure everyone has the chance to return home with a new skill or, at the very least, a stunning piece from an Indigenous artist.

Skilled in traditional weaving, where each piece reflects the stories and teachings of her elders, Erica runs workshops teaching the technique to others. Selling arts and crafts, Dreamtime Artistry is a must for anyone who wants to bring an authentic reminder home - from hand-painted didgeridoos to boomerangs and emu eggs. 

Ready for motivational travel that’s about more than soaking up the sun? Speak to our Business Events team to understand how cultural immersion could transform your incentive program. 

Contact us.