Marrakech and surroundings Incentive
Programme Overview
Duration: 7 days
This 7-day programme is designed to give a taste of Marrakech and its surroundings, there are plenty of opportunities to participate in team building exercises.
Highlights: Marrakech, Atlas Mountains, Moroccan desert
Arrive Marrakech
Upon arrival in Marrakech you will be welcomed by your guide and then transferred to your hotel where you will be given a welcome drink.
Marrakech is the main city of the south, also known as “the red city” due to the colours of the buildings. Founded by the Almoravid Berbers of the Western Sahara in 1062, it is one of the world’s great cities, a place of legend and popularity that still manages to remain charged with mystery. The surrounding countryside, the flat plains, the High Atlas Mountains - all provide an unforgettable backdrop to one of the most sophisticated cities in Africa.
Overnight: Es Saadi Palace
Meal Plan: D
Marrakech
Begin your full day of sightseeing at the Koutoubia Mosque. This square tower is 77 metres tall, including its lantern. Built in the 12th century, the Koutoubia minaret is the most perfect Islamic religious structure in North Africa and went on to inspire the architects of the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat. This famous landmark dominates the local skyline and can easily be spotted from anywhere in Marrakech.
Your next stop is the Badi Palace. The construction of this sumptuous palace lasted from 1578 to 1603. The richest materials were used to decorate the 360 rooms of the princely complex.The magnificence of the palace is now old history, its only inhabitants today are a couple of storks.
The Bahia palace is a small piece of folly ordered in 1880 by the great vizier Sidi Moussa. It is a masterpiece of domestic architecture that gives a good idea of how the privileged lived in Marrakech in the 19th century. Marble, stucco and mosaics dominate the apartments, opening on to courtyards filled with fountains and plant life. Then continue to the Saadian tombs.
After lunch in the medina, take a walk through the old medina and labyrinthine souks. This maze of colourful alleys and small squares is home to a bewildering number of stalls and ateliers devoted to specific crafts. Emerging from this maze, you find yourself in the famous Djemaa el Fna, the city’s main square. Over the years the square has become the beating heart of Marrakech, where fire eaters, mime artists, snake charmers and street musicians perform at every turn.
Dinner will be organised with local musical entertainment.
Overnight: Es Saadi Palace
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Marrakech - Atlas Mountains - Desert Camp
This morning after breakfast, depart towards the foothills of the Atlas Mountains to Terre d’Amanar. Designed by Jean-Martin Herbeq, former owner of one of the most successful incentive firms in Paris, Terre d'Amanar combines his love for Morocco, the Atlas Mountains and the Berber people with his expertise in handling highly demanding incentive operations.
Suggested activities for the afternoon:
• Polo match on donkeys, Berber bowling or Berber barber.
• Tyrolean traverse or zip-line, a tightrope walker on a monkey bridge or an acrobat on a climbing net.
• Falcon demonstration with possibility of participating.
At the end of the afternoon head to the desert not far from Marrakech where you will spend the night under the stars in traditional Berber tents. You will finish the day with dinner with a traditional Moroccan welcome and entertainment.
Overnight: Luxury Desert Camp near Marrakech
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Marrakech
After breakfast you will be met by our 4x4 specialist for a driving lesson in the desert. Learn the basics of desert driving and then attempt to go through an obstacle course.
Once you are familiar with your vehicle, you will navigate through a small desert in teams of four. This is not a race but an exercise to practice your team working skills.
After a picnic lunch in the desert, drive back to Marrakech in your 4x4.
Overnight: Es Saadi Palace
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Marrakech
Today you have a choice of three activities:.
Option 1: Hot air ballooning, 6am departure from the hotel to reach takeoff site by 7.30.
Depending on the number of participants we can do a touch and go (where half of the group sets off in the balloon and the other half follow off road in a 4x4 and in the middle of the flight they exchange) before the group meets again for breakfast.
For a group of 20, we would organise two flights of 30 to 45 minutes each on touch and go. Half of the group sets off in the balloon while the other half follow the flight in 4x4 across the countryside, before swapping over in the middle of the flight.
The flights end around 09.30am when a typical Berber breakfast will be served (coffee, home made bread dipped in olive oil and honey) in one of the nearby villages.
Option 2: Time free for shopping with guides at your disposal.
Option 3: Relax and enjoy the facilities in your hotel.
After your activities, Head to Nikki Beach to relax by the pool and enjoy a glass or two of champagne, finish off by having a massage in the spa of Palmeraire Golf Palace.
Tonight, dinner will be served in the Crystal. A party in Pacha Club is scheduled after dinner.
Overnight: Es Saadi Palace
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Marrakech
After breakfast depart in a horse drawn carriage to visit Marrakech’s famous gardens, the Menara and Marjorelle gardens. The latter was created by French painter Jacques Majorelle in 1924 and it was opened to the public in 1947. The gardens were purchased after his death by designer Yves Saint Laurent who established a trust to protect the future existence of the garden. He founded a small Islamic art museum located on the premises in a bright blue house, which was once the painting studio of Majorelle.
Lunch will be taken at one of Marrakech’s top restaurants. Return to your hotel to experience a hammam, a Moroccan steam bath.
Dinner tonight will be served at a local riad with entertainment.
Overnight: Es Saadi Palace
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Depart Marrakech
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your departure flight.
Meal Plan: B