I’m doing some market research on the logistics and viability of hosting corporate tech offsites in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
With the shift to remote/distributed work, annual or bi-annual company retreats have become the main way teams build rapport. We see a lot of teams going to Mexico City, Lisbon, or Costa Rica, but I'm looking closely at Buenos Aires (as I live there).
Timezone: Favorable for the US (EST +1 or +2) and easier for EU overlap.
Cost: Highly favorable exchange rate makes luxury/premium experiences much more affordable.
Culture: World-class food, infrastructure, and a strong local tech ecosystem.
However, the flight time from the US West Coast or parts of Europe is significantly longer than going to Mexico or Portugal.
I’d love to hear from founders, CTOs, and engineering managers who have planned or attended company retreats:
1. Has your team done an offsite in LATAM? If so, where, and how did you choose the location?
2. Is flight duration the ultimate dealbreaker? Would a 10-14 hour flight rule out a destination, even if the on-the-ground experience was significantly better/cheaper?
3. Budget: What is your typical per-head budget (flights + accommodation + food/activities) for a 4 to 5-day retreat?
4. Experiences: If you were bringing your team all the way to Buenos Aires, what "must-have" experiences would make the trip a clear win for the team (e.g., premium steakhouses, a day at an estancia, local tech networking)?
5. Logistics: Do you usually plan these in-house via an EA/Ops team, or do you outsource to an offsite planning agency?
6. Any extra comments or suggestions are super appreciated
Any raw feedback on the logistical nightmares of planning international team offsites would be highly appreciated.
Thanks!
presumably you'd be wrapping up the offsite on a Friday, so people would fly back that morning or Saturday morning. if they fly back Friday then they lose a day of offsite time, if they fly back Saturday then they lose their weekend to travel and recovery.
if a large % of your team is within 5-8 flight hours and it's only a handful of people coming from further away, then I'd spring for an extra night or two at the hotel/airbnb for the people with extra long flights.
cost and activities are hard to gauge without knowing team size. smaller teams can usually share a large airbnb which helps a lot with cost. larger teams means hotels and the cost balloons.
similar story for activities. larger teams limits your options and makes pleasing everyone hard. I'd recommend booking one or two "all-hands" activities, like dinner at a fancy restaurant, and researching some "this is a thing if anyone is interested" ahead of time. with a large team, make arrangements if enough people opt-in, or for smaller teams make it easy for people to go off and do that on their own. I've had good success with booking a few all hands activities and setting up a shared space where people can hang out together. smaller activities tend to naturally grow out of those interactions.
With the same steaks (ducks out rapidly..)
On a more serious note, if you're taking a large group somewhere that far away, charter a flight.