Latest News

Take to the sky, with Liberty Hot Air Balloons

It’s no secret businesses often reward employees through organising quality incentives and team building activities. Organising experiences for team members is often a way for businesses to reward top achievers while also focusing on building the solid connections and encouraging teams to work cohesively.

Have you ever considered Hot Air Ballooning as an incentive experience?

 

Most people love a little adventure, and ballooning is the perfect ‘soft adventure’. You don’t need to be fit, it is ageless and appealing to almost everybody. A ballooning adventure is a sensory experience that is filled with changing hues of light, sounds and spectacular views.

In terms of team building, the experience is suited for groups of all sizes. Teams can participate in the pre-flight activities such as rigging, inflation and in-flight management of a balloon flight to understand how it all comes together and appreciate what it might be like to actually fly a balloon. When looking at Hot Air Ballooning from a team building perspective, teams can work together to help set up the balloon for inflation, as well assisting with the pack up the balloon once landed. Although this is not mandatory, it is fun and gets everybody working together.

 

This year Liberty Balloon Flights invested $400,000 into their product offering and come Summer they will be flying a brand-new balloon, with the capacity to transport an additional 20 passengers. The balloon is currently receiving its finishing touches and will be shipped from the Czech Republic, where it is being constructed.

The introduction of this new aircraft will allow Liberty Balloons to now cater for 50 passengers a day, which opens up Hot Air Ballooning to larger group incentive experiences.

Hot Air Balloon sample itinerary:

Flights begin at dawn as this is when the winds are at their calmest. Liberty Balloon Flights meets their passengers at the Rydges Hotel, on the corner of Myers St &, Gheringhap St, Geelong. Meeting times are normally 1.5 hours before sunrise, so times vary depending on the time of the year but in early summer it can be as early as 04:30 AM.

From this central meeting location, guests will be transported to one of take-off locations around the area. As hot air balloons float in the wind, the pilots select the best launch site for the weather conditions of the day. Many flights take off from some of the city’s parkland or the Bellarine Peninsula, but sometimes we head west towards the Barrabool Hills.

The inflation procedures are very much a hands-on experience for those who want to participate and will take just over half an hour. Once the balloon is ready for lift-off and everyone has climbed in, the pilot will ascend and use the different winds at height to navigate the balloon for about 1 hour and land in one of the many possible locations in the area. The views are spectacular, with the ocean to the South and glorious views of Port Phillip Bay from the air.

At the end of the flight and having packed the balloon away, passengers are driven back to Geelong for a well-deserved breakfast (sparkling wine included), at the Rydges Hotel. The whole experience lasts approximately 4 hours.

For more information, or to book your next Hot Air Balloon Adventure click here.