Remote work may be the new normal, but without in-person, face-to-face conversations, many of us are feeling disconnected from our colleagues. To remedy this, corporate retreats are making a comeback, presenting opportunities for rebuilding connections and reenergizing teams.
One luxury Tuscan hotel has devised an innovative way to combine executive enrichment with environmental responsibility: Oasyhotel provides a pristine location that blends business with pleasure through its corporate engagement programs and sophisticated hospitality.
More than just high-end accommodations, Oasyhotel offers 16 secluded eco-lodges nestled on 1,000 hectares within Italy’s Oasi Dynamo Natural Reserve. In an ethically progressive partnership with leading global conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Oasi Dynamo has established the Dynamo Foundation with a goal of promoting nonprofit projects that represent forces of change for concerned communities.
The WWF Area. Image courtesy: Oasyhotel.
One of the Dynamo Foundation’s main projects, set to launch in 2023, is the Dynamo Academy, a comprehensive approach to training and education where entrepreneurs and employees from around the world can learn to build a better culture of cooperation and inclusion with team-building and social activities. A first of its kind, the academy works with Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose’s Global Exchange to develop a new business ethic that helps all companies be more aware of how their actions can make a positive impact. Participants benefit from experiences that cultivate vital, synergetic employee relationships while simultaneously embracing harmony with nature.
Teams and individuals alike can select activities that best match their desired collaboration goals—which can be as simple as tranquil walks among wildlife by day followed by overnight stays in a luxury eco-lodge, or as challenging and hands-on as the hotel’s Orienteering Educational Course to step outside their comfort zone and engage in learning new nature skills. Leaving behind roads and maps, participants learn their way around the reserve along with geo-guides, then roam the reserve to try out their newly acquired expertise. This exercise requires exceptional communication and cooperation among partners to effectively find a solution, or in this case, successfully navigate unfamiliar territory, revealing and honing leadership and teamwork skills.
Oasyhotel’s handmade pasta, made from locally farmed ingredients. Image courtesy: Oasyhotel.
Additional bonding opportunities include exploring the unique flora, fauna, and farming elements at the nature reserve through guided hikes, Tuscan safaris, biking excursions, workshops in nature, and guided farm tours to learn more about the production of farm-to-table offerings and other products at the hotel. Horseback riding, trekking, yoga, and Nordic walking tours are also available for adventure seekers. Following a long day, downtime choices include pampering with a rejuvenating massage at the spa facilities or enjoying authentic cuisine prepared by the on-site chef and accompanied by fine Tuscan wine. After all, this is meant to be a retreat.
Oasyhotel paves the way for eco-luxury and gives teams a chance to come together and connect with each other while enhancing environmental knowledge, supporting conservation, and practicing social activism. Though the Dynamo Foundation projects are set to finalize by 2023, the opulent Oasyhotel itself now welcomes all to the charming Tuscan countryside for renewal and leisure.
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