48 hours in Sri Lanka - a conference to remember

One week ago I’d just arrived at the beautiful Cinnamon Bentota hotel. I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the four groups of our Kuoni UK management team who had been travelling for the previous few days on incredible itineraries across Sri Lanka, experiencing this rich, diverse land. They'd been busy leopard spotting in wildlife-rich jungles and dining at high tea amidst the misty highlands swathed in tea plantations.

In my opinion, it was one of our best conferences EVER.

There was the big build up for starters – the #retail Store Managers and Team Leaders were asked to prepare a presentation on their two year business growth plans. Teams could pitch for budget or share ideas on what they plan to achieve for free. 

The team took part in a 7 week #coaching programme in the run up to conference to support them with creating a vision, goal setting, presenting skills and communication, developing a growth mindset, #team engagement and honing their presentation skills so that they were well equipped to nail delivering their presentations to the #leadership team on conference day. They also were part of small #accountability groups designed to be a support network for each other in the run up to the big day.

The conference theme was around #empowerment and #autonomy for the management team to drive their businesses forwards using their own #expert knowledge of their teams and local area.  Other topics discussed were our devotion to delivering an unparalleled #customerexperience and the values which our business is based upon. 

In my presentation, I took inspiration from Timpson Group CEO Sir John Timpson whose philosophy is all about championing personality, and totally trusting colleagues based on the person they are - this represents the distinctive heartbeat of their philosophy. 

We strive to give our retail store managers all of the necessary tools so that they can run their stores like it’s their own business and develop an #entrepreneurialmindset within their teams. We talked about building their businesses based on the values that matter - collaboration, empathy, instinct and trust - values which @maryportas passionately talks about in her book Work Like a Woman.

The atmosphere on conference day morning was tense and full of anticipation. The presentations were inspiring. Everyone was rooting for each other! After working on their growth plans for 7 weeks the management team showed such passion, powerful presenting skills, confidence and most importantly, deep knowledge of their teams and their businesses.

Victoria Wilson from Cheltenham blew us away from the off when describing her vision to be famous within her catchment of the Cotswolds. A quote that popped up on an app she’d recently downloaded really resonated with her: ‘work until you no longer have to introduce yourself’! Her confident, meticulously thought out presentation bowled us over as she demonstrated insightful knowledge gained from her social media training and digital marketing research. 

Many presenters had a great angle or a quirky, original idea within their plan.

Alex Killeen from Manchester had a ‘Be different’ theme – she showed deep local knowledge and gifted the audience with their very own journals and personalised stickers. 

Jane Griffiths from Liverpool asked the group to design their favourite cocktail for her new store. Tough job!

What made the conference so special was this deep sense of ownership from every individual – a talented team who are all aligned, care passionately about their teams’ development and have exciting plans to drive their businesses forward in so many exciting and creative ways.

This is a talented, experienced team, many of whom have worked for Kuoni for a long time, many have progressed their careers from Personal Travel Expert to Assistant Manager to Manager and have an army of devoted fans within their teams and customers.

Conference was a great opportunity to thank the team for their commitment and recognise how brilliant they are at what they do.   

The team had some unforgettable adventures together ahead of conference day on incredible itineraries in all corners of Sri Lanka. 

I only joined the group for #48hours but aside from conference day, I managed a run on wild and beautiful Bentota beach on arrival and a few of us had a fun filled hour in Bentota town hanging out with the locals finished off with an exhilarating tuk tuk journey back – just the tonic after an intense 9 hours of conference!

To be able to have our conference on this most idyllic island of Sri Lanka was a privilege.

Sri Lanka holds a special place in our hearts at Kuoni. Sri Lanka has long been one Kuoni’s best performing destinations and after a challenging time for the destination, our management team have brought back incredible stories to share with their teams and customers and are ready to supercharge sales.

So it was an epic week for many reasons. After the intense 7 week build-up of presentation preparation and coaching, I hope that my team feel proud of themselves. I know I do. They all took something from the process and agreed that it’s good to be out of your comfort zone. It builds #creativityandinnovation, develops your skills, builds #confidence and you learn more about yourself.

This incredible experience couldn’t have happened without our amazing partners Whittalls Travels Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts Nalika Abeysuriya Chathura Wickramarathna and all of our kind, incredible partners in Sri Lanka. You are all amazing.

Thank you also to Marco Rocha for braving the 48 hours with me and for all your support!