Contents
Key points
- An incentive rewards a performance or motivates towards a goal.
- The venue and activities should create a memory participants would not have had on their own.
- Check its social security and tax treatment with your chartered accountant.
What an incentive is for
- Rewarding the best results of a sales team or a network.
- Celebrating a collective success: a record, a launch, an anniversary.
- Motivating towards a goal announced in advance.
- Building loyalty among employees, partners or distributors.
Exceptional venues in Provence
- Châteaux and wine estates in the Var and the Luberon.
- Hotels with character in the Alpilles, with a spa or golf course.
- The seaside: Marseille, Cassis and the coast.
- The Camargue: wide open spaces and traditions. See Camargue.
Building the agenda
- One highlight per day: a boat trip, dinner at an unusual venue, a tasting, a guided discovery.
- Free time: spa, pool, wandering around a village.
- A short working session: review of the year, objectives, recognition of successes.
- A memorable evening: setting, music, local food.
Points to check before you go
- Social security contributions: according to BOSS, paying for a leisure trip counts as remuneration subject to contributions. If the trip is predominantly professional in nature, no benefit in kind is recognised, even for the leisure part; this is not the case when employees have worked less than half of the time spent on site. Keep a written work agenda and have the project approved by your chartered accountant.
- VAT: VAT on employee accommodation and on passenger transport is not deductible. See cost of an offsite.
- Suppliers: if you buy a package combining transport and accommodation, check that the seller is registered on the register of travel and holiday operators kept by Atout France, the French tourism development agency.
Guide Séminaire does not sell packages: we pass your request on to the venues, with whom you contract directly. Describe your incentive.
Sources and method
Information checked on 11 November 2026.
- Frais professionnels (§ 1490 à 1520) — BOSS : incentive trips, leisure share
- Article L211-1 — Code du tourisme, Légifrance : activities subject to the travel operator regime
- Article L211-18 — Code du tourisme, Légifrance : registration on the register
- Immatriculation des opérateurs de voyages et de séjours — Atout France : mandatory registration procedure
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a corporate retreat and an incentive?
A corporate retreat is first and foremost working time; an incentive is first and foremost a reward or a motivation, with a larger share of leisure. Many events combine the two.
Is an incentive subject to social security contributions?
It depends on the share of work. According to BOSS, the official French social security bulletin, a leisure trip paid for by the employer counts as remuneration; if the trip is predominantly professional in nature, no benefit in kind is recognised, but this is not the case when employees have worked less than half of the time spent on site. Have your project checked by your chartered accountant.
