See what’s waiting for you in Rio de Janeiro 2025 as we catch up with Richard, CEO, inVOYAGE and Sidney, Founder, Avant Garde for the story behind inVOYAGE Rio and our first debut into Latin America. Get ready to experience the very best of Rio de Janeiro….

Emily, inVOYAGE: So, coming into our 10th year of inVOYAGE, what inspired your decision to choose Rio as our first event of 2025 and what opportunity do you believe Rio presents to the incentives industry as an emerging destination in the MICE market?

Richard, CEO inVOYAGE: Rio offers a fantastic opportunity for us to deliver a very different experience to our high-end buyers – particularly those coming from our longer-haul markets. For us, it’s about creating unforgettable experiences and international networking opportunities where business is encouraged to occur naturally. Where better to do that than in the vibrant hub of Latin America’s Carnival City. 

Since the pandemic, we've seen incentive travel spread further and further afield and certain destinations such as the Latin Americas have become a lot more emergent as a result of that. Rio is certainly high on that list and a destination very much on the rise, so it was really only a matter of time before we took our event there. At a luxury level, the product offering is equally impressive with a great number of top brands in the city and along Copacabana, so it’s safe to say that, from an experiential point of view, the destination is one of a kind.

Couple this with the fact we’re launching the event right in the lead up to Carnival, and we feel it’s the perfect timing for us and for the industry.

Emily, inVOYAGE: Now this is obviously our first debut into Latin America. Do you think this will be the first of many?

Richard, CEO inVOYAGE: I think it will. It’s actually our first debut into the Americas as a whole, and certainly part of a longer-term plan. We fully hope to see this as a new chapter in the inVOYAGE life cycle, and it’s why we've spent the last few years nurturing a really strong relationship with Sidney and the Avant Garde team. So it seems only natural that we take it to the next stage by establishing a much stronger presence in Latin America with their support and help. Having official representation there and boots on the ground for our clients in that region is really important to us, making sure they’re well served and looked after in the inVOYAGE and Avant Garde way.

Emily, inVOYAGE: Absolutely! Now I know you touched on this earlier, but what do you hope our attendees will take away from this event specifically?

Richard, CEO inVOYAGE: For all the events agencies and corporate planners attending there’s going to be some great opportunities to take away key business from across the world, meet new luxury brands, and truly immerse yourself in Rio and the whole of Latin America. We're set to have a truly incredible set of a-listers attending from the corporate events world as well as a truly international collective of the finest luxury hotels and experience specialists.

The emphasis will of course be on creating business networking opportunities and immersive inspiration for all our inVOYAGERS, here in Latin America and globally, and along the way we can expect lots of exciting twists and turns - from our evening venues to the activities we curate with Avant Garde and our event partners. It’s going to be an incredible edition and we can’t wait to have the industry with us. For those who have been involved in previous inVOYAGE events, they will be familiar with the level at which we qualify our attendees and at inVOYAGE Rio the standard is set to be as high as ever. We are hopeful for another very strong sell-out event, and look forward to shining a spotlight on Latin America from a luxury incentives and events perspective.

Emily, inVOYAGE: Very exciting! And you mentioned that the event will be happening just before Carnival. Was that a conscious decision and what do you envision this will add to the overall experience for our clients?

Richard, CEO inVOYAGE: It was definitely a conscious decision, and it came out of a lot of conversations with the Avant Garde office and also with the team at Fairmont Copacabana. There was a very strong feeling that launching the event at that time of year would give us the best opportunity to showcase Rio in a beautiful summer season and on the build-up to one of the greatest events in the global calendar – Carnival.  

Emily, inVOYAGE: An incredibly exciting event to be a part of! Now, if I could just bring you in Sidney –  we are delighted to be partnering up with you and your team in Rio. What does it mean for you to be such an integral part of inVOYAGE?

Sidney Alonso: For me being an inVOYAGER means knowledge, connectivity and transformation. inVOYAGE is where I go to get inspiration, where I interact with great minds of our industry and the event that helps me layout the future of our company.

Emily, inVOYAGE: And from your own experience at Avant Garde as a leading DMC representation company in Latin America, what are your thoughts about what Rio can offer the Luxury Events & Incentives Market?

Sidney Alonso: Rio is magic in itself! A 3-letter name that says it all! Think about a city founded in the most beautiful mountain-bay setup in the world, where the lush rain forest meets sandy beaches; a city that was the only capital of a European monarchy and has castles, colonial churches and cobblestone streets mixed with a vibrant and chaotic urban scenario where clothes are almost optional and carnival is the ultimate expression of happiness and joy of life. All inVOYAGERS will be mesmerised by its vibrance, warmth, natural wonders and a young and creative crowd that is always smiling. Rio has “incentive travel” written all over, we just need to go with the flow!

Emily, inVOYAGE: And, for those of us who haven’t yet visited Rio, do you have any personal recommendations of places/restaurants/activities you just can’t miss when visiting the destination?

Sidney Alonso: The list is rather large and diverse. You cannot miss the mainstream wonders (Christ The Redeemer, Sugar Loaf, Tijuca Forest) nor the opportunity to live the “Rio Life” (beaches, low key bars and food joints, the sunset at Arpoador). Nightlife in Ipanema or the “Lower Leblon”, or a trip to the traditional Santa Tereza neighbourhood with its cafes and samba spots. It would be unfair to list just a few spots and inVOYAGE Rio will be full of surprises, so I won’t shoot spoilers.

Emily, inVOYAGE: Finally, any last words for our inVOYAGERS ahead of the event?

Sidney Alonso: Be ready to work, play and reconnect with JOY. Rio will provide the perfect backdrop to do business in a rewarding and authentic way. Bring sunscreen lotion, comfortable shoes, light clothes and your smiles. We’ll take care of everything else!

 inVOYAGE is headed to Rio! Join the inVOYAGE retreat as we take 150+ of the top luxury brands to the Fairmont Copacabana, to network under one roof in our Latin American Debut. Sign up now