Company retreats are back – and business is booming, with the average cost of a retreat currently sitting at around $3000 per person. With the rise of remote working in the post-pandemic digital world, that’s probably no surprise. Corporate retreats may have once been seen as a luxury, but now they’re often viewed as vital events for team bonding.
Calculating the ROI of a retreat can be difficult, given that so many of the benefits are intangible – lower employee attrition, better team dynamics and a more positive work experience can all be noted after in-person events, despite being hard to define in figures. However, long-term data suggests that companies holding regular retreats see an improvement of up to 87% in their employee retention stats. Of course, not all of this can be directly attributed to the retreats, but if it’s even a third… well, that’s still a huge number.
These numbers suggest that it’s certainly worth investing in a team-building retreat – and that’s true whether you’re improving the company culture at a huge multinational or bringing together remote team members at a small startup. Different companies have wildly different needs, so if you’re planning a corporate retreat in 2025, where do you start?
In this article, we’ll break down the costs planners need to consider for their next company retreat, and help you take some of the guesswork out by bringing everything together with a detailed budget calculator spreadsheet.
Define your retreat experience
RetreatsandVenues has a fantastic collection of more than 20,000 retreat locations to choose from, and it’s tempting to start your retreat planning process by clicking on some of the settings that appeal to you the most. (And we should know – we’ve spent many hours looking at gorgeous pictures and dreaming of Italian villas, Thai wellness resorts and Rocky Mountains ski lodges…)
But before you get to that stage, the first step of event planning must be to define the style and purpose of your company offsite. Retreat themes may include:
- An event centred around team-building activities to help remote workers get to know each other
- A relaxation-focused wellness trip to thank your team members for their work
- A deep-focus team offsite made up of brainstorming and strategizing sessions
Outlining the purpose of your event before getting into the finer details of retreat planning will give you a better idea of how much money you’ll need to allocate to each section of your budget.
Create your retreat budget
The average cost of a company retreat is around $3000 per person, but don’t forget that’s just the average. At RetreatsandVenue, we’ve survey thousands of retreat planners and our data shows retreat costs ranging from $750 per person to almost $9000. This means there’s plenty of scope to create a bespoke team retreat that fits your budget.
Choosing a ballpark figure and creating your retreat experience to align with that is one way to approach budgeting, but this is likely to involve a certain amount of trial and error. The best way to work out the cost of your company retreat is to create a spreadsheet that itemizes all the main elements of your ideal event in detail and allows you to multiply by the number of people attending to find your total cost.
To help with this, we’ve created an event budget spreadsheet that covers all the main costs to consider when you plan a company retreat. You may need to customize this for your own needs – for example, adding individual travel costs per person if you have attendees traveling from different locations – but it will help you get started.
Next, we’ll look at the four main costs of a company retreat budget:
- Accommodation
- Transport
- Catering
- Activities
Looking at each of these in detail will help you to bring together a bespoke cost outline for your event and make any necessary adjustments to fit budget restraints. You could also use multiple tabs to compare venues and locations.
Hot tip: Don’t forget to note whether your quoted prices include tax or not – in certain locations, such as the US, this can add a fair amount to the overall cost if not factored in.
The four main company retreat costs
There are many aspects to consider when planning a company retreat, but in general they can be divided into the four main groups listed above.
The amount you’ll need to allow for each section will vary depending on the purpose of your retreat. For example, if you’re planning a series of focused work sessions, you’ll need to prioritize a venue with a top-notch meeting space or coworking area, which may add to accommodation costs. Or, if you’re looking at an incentive trip or team bonding event, you may like to prioritize the activities section to help you create an action-packed program.
Hot tip: Consider your event as a whole, especially for budget-friendly destinations such as Thailand or Guatemala. Retreat venue and activity costs are likely to be lower here, but international travel might be more pricey. Opt for something closer to home (such as Italy if you’re based in Europe, or a different state if you’re in the USA) and you may save on travel while spending more on the venue and catering. Checking out a few different retreat locations, and considering the pros and cons of each one, will help you decide which one is right for you.
Accommodation
Your retreat venue will be one of the main costs, and it’s worth putting some thought into this, to find exactly the right one for you. You’ll need to consider the logistics of both individual bedrooms and shared onsite facilities as well as the location. Each individual listing on RetreatsandVenues shows exactly what’s available, and there’s a handy comparison tool to help you compare options easily. As a guide, how about a luxurious Greek villa from US$110 per person per night? Or perhaps a peaceful Canadian mountain lodge from US$84 per person per night?
If you’re struggling to narrow down your choices (there are more than 20,000 venues listed, after all…), schedule a call with an expert adviser to help find some inspiring ideas.
Transport
Summing up transportation costs will depend on the travel methods you’re using. For international travel, you’ll need to consider flight costs and onward travel such as trains or taxis to reach the venue. For example, for the Greek venue linked above it’s a 30-minute drive from the airport to the villa, and you can expect a taxi to cost around US$40-50.
Meanwhile, it’s worth remembering that you don’t have to travel far to have a good getaway from the office, and more local events may offer options such as a carpool system. Don’t forget to add a budget for any ground transport you need during the event, whether that’s metro passes for a city-based event or taxis to a restaurant or activity from a rural venue. If you’ve picked that Canadian mountain lodge, for example, you’ll probably want to think about car hire or shuttle transfers to nearby Sun Peaks for skiing in winter.
Catering
Coming up with a catering budget involves considering each day individually and deciding on a meal schedule, whether that’s shared meals at the venue or trips to local restaurants. Don’t forget to include breakfasts, drinks to go with meals, and tips or taxes. Many events venues offer packages that take any stress and guesswork out of this aspect of budgeting, so it’s always worth asking about these.
Event catering costs vary across the world, but as a rough guide you can expect buffet meals to cost from US$15 per head, and three-course meals to start at around $35 per head.
Catering is one area that lends itself to small wins – having some local snacks during a brainstorming session or ending the day with a sociable ‘happy hour’ won’t add much to your budget but can do wonders to boost morale.
Activities
This heading covers everything on your retreat schedule, and there’s a huge range of activities to choose from. Depending on your retreat theme, this might be wellness sessions like yoga classes, outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking, or cultural team-building activities such as cooking classes or temple tours. Activity prices will depend on your location, but for our linked venues you can expect to pay US$100 per head for a private Greek cooking class and around US$120 for a day’s ski pass (plus any transport, ski guide and kit hire costs).
Don’t forget that even the most though-focused leadership retreat needs some kind of time away from the workspace – even if it’s something as simple as a meditation session or a scavenger hunt around the venue.
With all offsite activities, make sure to choose reputable providers rather than going on cost alone – the safety and enjoyment of your team must always be your priority.
Don’t forget the extras…
Before you sign off your budget, think about those little extras that make a smooth and memorable event. On a practical front, do you need to provide travel insurance or provide printed event programs? And how about attendee gifts? Swag like a tote bag, water bottle or T-shirt boosts employee engagement further. Prices for individual items are likely to start at around US$15 – and if you make it a good-quality item that your guests want to reuse you’ll get your branding out in public too.
The bottom line
With company retreats having numerous benefits for businesses and team members alike, it’s well worth planning to add one to your schedule in 2025 – especially for companies with remote team members. With careful planning and well-researched choices, you can create a bespoke event that doesn’t break the bank.
Keeping a lid on costs is always important in business, of course, but don’t be tempted to skimp too much on your retreat. Remember, the goal is to boost team morale – something as simple as providing snacks for a meeting can help here, but making team members get up in the middle of the night to catch that cheap 6am flight probably won’t!
For personalized help with planning your next corporate retreat, contact one of the experts at RetreatsandVenues, and help bring your vision to life.
Company retreat budget FAQs
How much do companies spend on retreats?
According to RetreatsandVenues’ recent analysis, the average retreat cost per person in 2024 was $3,125. However, costs vary depending on the style, size and purpose of the event: per-person costs for 2024 ranged from around $750 to $8900.
What should be included in a company retreat budget?
The four main factors of a company retreat budget are accommodation, transport, catering and activities, plus a few small extras. Using the retreat planner tool from RetreatsandVenues will help you understand these individual costs and the overall budget for your event.
Who plans a company retreat?
Planning a company retreat is usually a task for the events team, if there is one, or a member of the HR department. As there are many aspects to consider, it’s best to employ a specialist company such as RetreatsandVenues to ensure your event runs smoothly.