Often, one of the best ways to understand a place is to explore its local cuisine — and that rings especially true for incentive travel rewards. The culinary experiences that leave a lasting impression give top performers the chance to savour dishes rooted in the region, while being immersed in diverse cultures and surrounded by breath-taking backdrops. This allows employees forge an even deeper connection to the places they visit, leaving them transformed in profound ways.

For instance, consider rewarding your high achievers with a scallop diving experience off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador - the most easterly point in North America. During this one-of-a-kind activity, which is offered through Ocean Quest Adventures, incentive groups board a 29-passenger cruiser and sail along the idyllic Atlantic Ocean, admiring charming fishing villages, ancient rock formations and sandy beaches. Once they reach a calm bay, a local guide will teach them the secrets to diving for scallops, with the option to also try their hand at cod fishing from the boat.

After the guides have finished teaching guests about their catches, a chef on board will prepare a feast — bringing incentive groups closer than ever to the source of their food. As they taste seafood caught just moments before, they can toast to their extraordinary accomplishments with a crisp glass of local white wine and listen to traditional music playing in the background.

“It’s one of those experiences that’s quite unusual because the seafood is unbelievably fresh,” says John Olivero, Chief Happiness Officer at Ocean Quest Adventure Resort. “We’ll serve the freshly-caught cod and scallops alongside a smorgasbord of local dishes, including moose sausages.”

Exhilarating ocean adventures

Beyond scallop diving, top performers have an array of ocean adventures to enjoy in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Newfoundland is a place with incredible outdoor activities,” explains Stan Cook, who runs a luxury incentive travel company called Rock + Water Stan Cook Travel, giving groups backstage access to legendary coastal experiences. “The adventures that you can do by the water and on the water separate us from most of the world.”

One of them gives incentive groups a front row seat to giant icebergs that come in all shapes, sizes and colours. It’s a captivating experience, especially when top performers discover how they can use small pieces of the 10,000-year-old glacier, known as “bergie bits”.

“On our tours, we’ll pick up the bergie bits floating in the ocean, crack them open and put them in a cocktail to use as ice,” Stan says. “It’s a special sound, listening to the snap, crackle and pop of the air coming out of the iceberg as it’s being released in the drink. Guests love it because it’s so unique — and something that can’t be done in a lot of places around the world.”

It’s not just icebergs that drift by the shore. Each year, some 10,000 humpback whales make their way to the coast to feed — making it home to the largest concentration of humpback whales on the planet. There are also 21 other species of whales and dolphins, as well as large seabird colonies (earning it the reputation of being the seabird capital of North America). Whether they opt to go sea kayaking or charter a boat, incentive groups can enjoy transformative encounters with local wildlife, watching as they breach, swim and spout around them.

“Our interactions with the coastal whales and dolphins are really second to none,” Stan says. “In some of our experiences during the summer months, we’ll be sitting and chatting in a kayak or small boat, and there will be as many as 50 or 70 whales swimming around us.”

Celebrating the power of local

With fresh-caught seafood, towering icebergs and encounters with whales and a host of marine life, Newfoundland and Labrador delivers a one-of-a-kind incentive reward. These authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences are exactly the type of experiences that leave a lasting imprint on employees — and as Stan notes, are especially powerful in boosting relationships among colleagues.

“The feedback we get — besides that groups had a great time and that it’s opened their eyes to different experiences — is how they’ve worked together on these activities,” Stan says. “It helps with building camaraderie. I’ll run into people years later and they’ll still remember the time they reached down and grabbed some iceberg ice for their drinks or paddled alongside whales. It resonates with them, and they have lasting memories of their time as a team.”

Canada’s rich diversity of incentive destinations offer unique experiences that will inspire and revitalize teams, reigniting their creativity and promoting collaboration to fuel future success. With over 250 unique legendary experiences available, Canada is a top choice for recognizing and rewarding high achievers. Destination Canada’s Business Events team can help design a program that’s specifically tailored to your group’s interests and needs.

For more information, connect with Jennifer Attersall, Director of Incentive Travel, Destination Canada Business Events at attersall.jennifer@destinationcanada.com or +1 403-923-5972