# How to plan a company retreat in Türkiye: a 12-week timeline

> Twelve weeks is a comfortable runway for a 30–150 person retreat in Türkiye. Here is what to lock in each fortnight, from the brief to the last rooming list.

URL: https://bravodays.com/en/blog/how-to-plan-a-company-retreat-in-turkiye-a-12-week-timeline
Last updated: 2026-10-21
Publisher: BravoDays (https://bravodays.com)

## In short

- Agree objectives, budget per person and decision-maker before you look at venues.
- Lock venue and flights by week 8; most later problems start with a late contract.
- Send the agenda and travel info to attendees no later than two weeks out.
- Keep one owner for the rooming list and dietary data until arrival day.

## Overview

Most company retreats that go wrong do not fail on the day. They fail quietly, months earlier, when a decision is postponed, a contract sits unsigned or nobody owns the rooming list. Twelve weeks is a comfortable runway for a retreat of 30 to 150 people in Türkiye. You can do it faster, and we often do, but this timeline shows where the real deadlines sit and why.

### Weeks 12–10: the brief and the budget

Before anyone opens a hotel website, write a one-page brief. It saves more time than any other document in the project.

- **Purpose:** is this a strategy offsite, a reward, a team reconnect after a year of remote work, or a mix? The answer changes the venue, the agenda and the budget.

- **Headcount and profile:** an approximate number, the departure cities and anyone with mobility or dietary needs.

- **Dates:** two or three windows rather than one fixed date. Flexibility of even a week can open up far better venues.

- **Budget per person:** state whether it includes flights. Without this, every proposal you receive will be impossible to compare.

- **Decision-maker:** name the one person who signs off. Retreats stall when approval is spread across five calendars.

### Weeks 10–8: destination, venue shortlist and contract

With a clear brief, the destination usually picks itself. Teams flying in from Europe or the Gulf often favour Istanbul or the Antalya and Belek coast for direct flights. A Türkiye-based team that wants nature without a flight can look at Sapanca and Kartepe, which are reachable by coach from Istanbul. Cappadocia and Bodrum suit groups who want a strong sense of place and are happy with a domestic connection.

Ask for three venue options against the same brief and compare them on the same grid: meeting room size and daylight, distance between rooms and plenary, outdoor space, room types, and what is included. At BravoDays we send three proposals within one business day of a complete brief, because at this stage speed matters more than polish.

Aim to sign the venue contract by week 8. Read the attrition and cancellation clauses carefully, and confirm exactly which spaces are held for you and at what times.

### Weeks 8–6: flights, agenda skeleton and suppliers

1. **Flights:** group fares and seat availability get tighter as dates approach, especially in the May–October season. Hold seats as soon as the venue is confirmed.

2. **Agenda skeleton:** block out working sessions, meals, free time and the one or two activities that will define the trip. Leave at least one unstructured afternoon.

3. **Suppliers:** request quotes for transfers, activities, facilitators, AV and photography. Ask every supplier for the same headcount and the same times so the quotes are comparable.

### Weeks 6–3: registration, details and the run of show

Open registration with a short form: full name as on passport, arrival and departure details, dietary requirements, accessibility needs, room sharing preferences and an emergency contact. Keep it short; long forms come back incomplete.

In parallel, turn the agenda skeleton into a run of show: a minute-by-minute document with times, locations, owners and contingency notes. This is where you decide what happens if it rains during the outdoor dinner, or if a balloon flight in Cappadocia is cancelled for weather, which is common and should always have a backup morning.

**Practical tip:** appoint a single owner for the rooming list and dietary data and make every change go through them. Most arrival-day problems we see come from two versions of the same spreadsheet.

### Weeks 3–1: communications and final numbers

Send attendees a clear pre-trip pack two weeks out: the agenda, what to wear, weather expectations, transfer times, the onsite contact number and a note on any visa requirements for their nationality. Visa rules change, so point people to the official source rather than copying them into an email.

Final numbers usually go to the venue between 7 and 14 days before arrival, depending on the contract. After that date, reductions are often charged in full, so chase late registrations early.

### Arrival week: let the plan do its job

If the earlier weeks were done well, the final week is about confirmation, not creation. Reconfirm transfers with flight numbers, walk the venue with the hotel team, test AV in the actual room and brief everyone on the run of show. On site, someone other than the HR lead or executive sponsor should handle problems, so the people who organised the retreat can actually take part in it.

If you have rough dates and a headcount, that is enough to start. Send them to us with a line on what the retreat is for, and your event designer will come back with a timeline built backwards from your dates and three venue options to react to.

## Related pages

- [Blog](https://bravodays.com/en/blog)
- [Get a quote](https://bravodays.com/en/get-a-quote)

By BravoDays editorial team