Familiarisation trips
See the operation before you brief.
Halia hosts a small number of familiarisation trips per year for qualifying agencies, incentive houses, and corporate buyers. Two nights on the island, property tours across the premium tier, catamaran site inspection, dinners at the venues we run galas in, operations briefing.
Most agency-DMC relationships compound after the first in-person meeting. The fam trip exists to compress that.
What's covered
On the ground for two nights, hosted by Halia.
- ·Two nights at a Halia partner hotel (typically Conrad, Six Senses, or Anantara Bophut depending on availability)
- ·Property tours across 3 to 5 hotels in the Samui premium tier
- ·One half-day catamaran site inspection
- ·Curated dinners at venues we use for galas
- ·Operations briefing covering routing, AV partners, supplier ecosystem
- ·Optional Phangan day trip (Anantara Rasananda, Santhiya) by speedboat
Not covered
- ·International flights to Samui (you cover)
- ·Personal extras (room incidentals, spa, alcohol outside curated dinners)
- ·Travel insurance
Who qualifies
Honest criteria, written up-front.
- 1.Established incentive house, agency, or corporate buyer with a documented Asia-program track record (typically 2+ programs in the last 18 months)
- 2.Active pipeline that could realistically place a Samui or Phangan program inside the next 12 months
- 3.Senior-enough decision authority to take a brief through to confirmation, or direct line to whoever does
We don’t qualify based on agency size or brand recognition. We qualify based on whether a real program could come through. Smaller agencies with active pipelines beat large agencies whose briefs would never reach Asia.
Apply
Submit the application.
We review every application personally inside two weeks. If we have capacity and the fit is right, Halia comes back with proposed dates and the next steps.
FAQ
Common questions.
Why do you cap fam trip volume?+
Fam trips work as a relationship investment, not a volume play. We host a small number per year so each trip gets meaningful operations time and personal hosting from the Halia team. This caps natural demand against capacity but keeps the experience substantive.
Do I have to commit to a program after the trip?+
No formal commitment. The expectation is that you genuinely consider Samui and Halia for an upcoming brief that fits, and that you stay in honest touch about your pipeline. Forced commitments are not how this should work.
What's the timeline from application to trip?+
Applications are reviewed within 2 weeks. Approved trips typically schedule 6 to 12 weeks out depending on partner-hotel availability and your travel calendar. Halia coordinates the dates with you.
Can I bring a colleague or partner?+
Solo or duo applications are common. Larger groups (3+) are reviewed case by case — typically only when the cohort represents distinct decision authority across an agency rather than the same role twice.
Are there months you don't host fam trips?+
We avoid October to mid-December (worst monsoon window — the program experience would not represent the typical conditions buyers will encounter on a real program).
Have a brief instead?
Skip the fam trip. Send the brief.
Many agencies skip the fam trip because they have a real program to scope right now. We respond to briefs inside 48 hours regardless of whether we’ve met in person.