Your guide to navigating team retreat expenses
Your guide to navigating team retreat expenses
BoomPop Team · 11/1/2022
Creating a company retreat budget and not sure where to start? Let’s go over some average costs and benchmarks we’ve learned from planning events so that you can budget like a pro.
When it comes to creating company retreat budget examples for management review, you may be asking, “Is my budget even realistic?” How does it stack up against what others are spending, or what employees may be expecting you to spend?
Most planners, even ones who have been in the game for years, are struggling to create their team offsite budgets after the COVID-influenced transformation in the travel industry. Hotel rates are 22% higher than pre-pandemic, food and beverage is recorded at 120% higher due to food inflation, and it’s predicted airfare will soar above pre-pandemic fares in 2023.
Even with all of these expenses considered, companies know that offsites are an essential part of keeping teams connected and engaged, plus retaining top talent. Especially for distributed teams, there’s simply no better way to create bonds. The investment is worth it—and by understanding average costs, you can make sure you’re prepared to plan an excellent event at the right cost for your organization.
Team retreat travel costs
In the most recent consumer airfare index report by Hopper for Q2 2022, they found that the average domestic airfare is $330, an increase of 7% over 2019 fares. This is a good benchmark estimate to put in for each team member traveling, and you can create deeper estimates by checking out average fares from locations team members are based.
Don’t forget local commute costs like fuel, fares, and ride share trips. These costs vary depending on location, but are easily researched online.
Team retreat accommodation costs
Accommodation costs, as mentioned, have risen over the past year. In fact, as demand is high, hotel average daily rates have recovered compared to pre-pandemic levels. So, here’s what you can expect on average for some of the most popular company offsite destinations in the U.S. based on recent averages:
Average Group 4-Star Hotel Rates for Q1 2023
New York, NY: $329.00
San Francisco, CA: $289.00
Austin, TX: $259.00
These costs can vary widely based on season, other large events taking place in these locations, or the quality and amenities level you’re seeking.
Pro Tip: If you’re trying to reduce your budget, negotiate on the hotel contract to see if you can get lower rates. With larger groups, try to add a “Lowest Rate” clause to ensure you’re getting the best rate available at the property (not including previously contracted business) over your dates.
Team retreat meeting space and coworking costs
Meeting space and coworking costs are perhaps the most variable you’ll have to navigate. Some offsites don’t require this space at all, but if yours does, here’s what to expect…
Coworking spaces sometimes charge per person, per day, and can get rather high if the facility has a ton of amenities (but, this saves on snack cost, coffee, etc.). Alternately, a hotel will likely charge based upon the overall spend for the company offsite and the size of the space being used. This is a situation where averages aren’t necessarily present, so if you have specific venues in mind, try gathering estimates from them before budgeting.
Pro Tip: At hotels, you can likely negotiate lower room rental rates if you’re also contracting accommodation and food and beverage. Some hotels will even waive the room rental with a food and beverage minimum.
Team retreat activity costs
Activity costs are highly dependent on the number of participants.
For example, our Aged Tea and Honey Pairing in NYC has a base cost of $1,370 for the team to come out and offer this experience. So, if you’re hosting a small management retreat for 6 people, the cost would be $228 per person. But, for groups over 10 participants, the cost goes down to $137 per person. Similarly, our Wine & Chocolate Truffle Making Class in San Francisco by tinyB Chocolate is $232 per person for a group of 10, but $187 per person for a group of 100.
To sum it up, unique tasting experiences like the two examples above will typically range from $100+ per person in every city, varying by attendee count. However, you can also opt for more budget-friendly activities that are still incredibly fun and personalized! Think paint experiences or meditation workshops for stress management, which even in an expensive city like Los Angeles, run for less than $60 per person.
Offsite and retreat dining costs
Dining costs will likely be one of the largest line items on your budget. Not only is food cost high, but service fees and gratuity add up quickly. Yes, service and gratuity, not one or the other.
Many hotels and venues will charge tax and a service fee, plus additional gratuity, with potential for even more labor and event fees in today’s landscape.
Here are a few examples pulled from real 4-star hotels in three cities that will provide a good estimate to start. Note: Taxes and fees are on top of these figures.
Standard Continental Breakfast Buffet
Austin, TX: $30/ per person
New York, NY: $68/ per person
Los Angeles, CA: $40/ per person
Standard Buffet Lunch
Austin, TX: $60/ per person
New York, NY: $120/ per person
Los Angeles, CA: $59/ per person
Standard Dinner
Austin, TX: $80/ per person
New York, NY: $155/ per person
Los Angeles, CA: $85/ per person
Taxes & Fees for Each Property
Austin, TX: 18% gratuity, 4% admin fee, and 8.25% taxes
New York, NY: 15% gratuity, 10% admin fee, and 8.875% taxes
Los Angeles, CA: 11% gratuity, 14% admin fee, and 9.5% taxes
Line items to consider when creating company offsite budgets
The first step to gathering offsite budget data is to organize an event budget for approval. You’ll want to lay out every potential line item with an estimated expense. Below are some ideas to get you started!
General Company Retreat Expenses
These are some standard company offsite expenses you’ll likely incur.
Event management software
Facility rental
Food and beverage (breakfast, AM & PM breaks, lunch)
Audiovisual (equipment, pre-recording, and/or live streaming for hybrid)
Print & digital materials (agendas, signage, workbooks, etc.)
Labor (graphic design for print and digital, meeting planner, on-site labor costs for A/V, catering staff, coat check, etc.)
Team building activities during the meeting
Swag (branded clothing, pens, tchotchkes, etc. to boost morale during the company offsite)
Speaker fees
Shipping fees (for any equipment, print materials, swag, etc. heading to the meeting locale)
Offsite Entertainment Expenses
After the meeting has wrapped up for the day, the fun isn’t over. It should just be getting started! One of the best ways to facilitate interpersonal connection at company offsite is to produce some epic evening events.
Dining experiences “after-hours” (multi-course tasting dinners, happy hour cocktail-making class, or cooking challenges, etc.)
Entertainment for evening events (bands, comedians, etc.)
Offsite Travel Expenses
Pro Tip: You’ll want to consider travel for team members, hired speakers, and/or entertainers.
Airfare
Ground transportation
Accommodation
Looking at those line items, dollar signs may be dancing in your head, but you have no idea how to fill in the estimated cost next to each item. So, what do you do? Let’s break it down.
How to estimate costs for your company's offsite budget
The key to successful estimates is to determine fixed and variable costs.
For example, your facility rental fees and speaker fees are likely fixed costs.
You’re contracting space for your estimated guest count and welcoming the same keynote speaker regardless of who attends. You can ballpark those prices based on quick conversations with a hotel sales manager and/or a peek at websites.
On the other hand, catering, print materials, travel, and swag are all examples of variable event costs.
For these, you’ll want to get proposals from vendors and travel managers, menus, etc., to estimate a per-person price and multiply that by your estimated attendee count to get your final estimated cost to place in the budget.
Getting your offsite budget approved by leadership
There’s one key to getting your budget proposal approved by leadership:
Create your budget with meeting goals in mind!
Try to develop a full proposal on how each line item ties to a key performance indicator that will lead to ROI for the organization. Use a few stats on employee engagement during offsite meetings too. That always helps!
Tips for budget tracking and reconciliation
To ensure you stay on everyone’s good side after they give you the green light, you need to have proper budget tracking in place. You’ll want to track both offsite general expenses and employee travel expenses in detail so nothing gets lost.
How to track offsite expenses for simple reconciliation
First, you’ll want to invest in software designed for expense tracking or create a super thorough Excel document or Google Sheets to track offsite expenses.
Check out options like Concur or Monday if you want to go the software route.
How to track employee travel expenses & reimbursements
Then, you’ll also want to track employee travel expenses. Proper software is critical for this, as manual reimbursement forms are tedious. If you’re going the Google Sheet route for overall budget tracking and require just travel expense and reimbursement software Concur or Zoho are great options.
Before team members even get invited to the company offsite, create an employee travel reimbursement policy for distribution before the meeting. This way, you don’t run into any sticky situations once the team gets on the road!
Other offsite and retreat expenses
Beyond the standard costs outlined above, you may encounter other costs along the way like shipping or swag costs. We break them down a bit more here, and again in our team offsite budget template for you.
