Team building with an international team works in Marrakech when three things are settled in advance: one facilitation language everyone understands, activities that rely neither on wordplay nor on shared cultural references, and logistics that can cope with people flying in from several countries. Hands-on workshops such as Moroccan cooking or traditional crafts work well because you can follow them by watching. For everything else, the rule is simple: ask each participant what they need rather than inferring it from their nationality. This guide covers language, choice of activities, food and drink, Ramadan, time zones and how to mix teams, with a two-day programme priced for 60 people.
Which language should the team building run in?
Pick one working language and state it in the invitation. For most international teams that will be English; for a mainly French-speaking group with a few colleagues from abroad, it may be French with an English relay. The problem is rarely the language you choose; it is improvisation. A facilitator who switches back and forth from one instruction to the next loses half the room at every switch.
Three precautions cut down misunderstandings. Give the important instructions, on safety, timings and the rules of the game, both out loud and in writing, in a short sheet handed to each team. Speak slowly and avoid idioms: a joke that gets half the room laughing leaves the other half on the outside. And check understanding by asking one person per team to repeat the instruction in their own words, rather than asking “is everyone clear?”.
If part of the group speaks neither English nor French, there are two options: pair them with a colleague who speaks both, or book an interpreter, priced on request. For a plenary session with senior leadership, an interpreter remains the most reliable choice.
Which activities work when people do not share a first language?
The ones where you learn by watching and the result is visible. A Moroccan cooking class is the textbook case: you watch the technique, copy it, and the shared dish becomes common ground. A craft workshop works the same way, with the added benefit of putting everyone on an equal footing whatever their job title or first language.
A treasure hunt through the medina is still possible if you adapt it. Favour visual challenges (find a place from a photo, bring back a specific object, take a set team photo) over riddles built on wordplay, and write the route book in the working language. Our guide to the medina treasure hunt for corporate teams sets out how the day runs.
Avoid formats that depend on language or on a shared culture: general knowledge quizzes, improv, talk-heavy role plays, challenges where you have to make the judges laugh. They automatically favour people playing in their first language and put the others on the spot in front of their colleagues.
How do you allow for cultural differences without resorting to stereotypes?
The trap with an international team is designing the programme around what you think you know about the nationalities present. Two colleagues from the same country can have very different habits, beliefs and limits. What works is a registration form that asks each person the right questions, and a programme that offers choices rather than obligations.
Food and drink
Ask each participant on the form for their dietary requirements without asking them to explain: vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher, allergies, intolerances. In Morocco halal is the norm and most dishes are halal by default; other diets need to be flagged to the caterer in advance. Our guide to halal, vegan and kosher diets at an event in Morocco (in French) explains how to handle this with caterers.
Alcohol should be optional and low-key. It can only be served at a licensed venue or, at a private venue, with a special permit, so check before you book the evening, especially in a riad. Either way, provide good alcohol-free drinks, served with the same care as the wine, and do not make a toast or an open bar the high point of the night.
Physical contact and competition
People’s comfort with physical contact varies. Avoid challenges where it is compulsory (carrying a teammate, holding hands blindfolded), or offer them as one option among several. For competition, rank teams rather than individuals, and reward cooperation too: the team that shared out roles best, the one that helped another. An individual leaderboard displayed in front of the whole company can make some participants uncomfortable if they are not used to that kind of exposure.
Hierarchy and speaking up
Teams differ in how people challenge a manager, and some participants will not speak up spontaneously in a plenary. Give rotating roles within teams (navigator, timekeeper, note-taker, spokesperson), and build in small-group discussion before anything is reported back to the whole room. For accessibility, inclusion and participation, our article on mandatory team building and an inclusive programme goes further.
What if your dates fall during Ramadan?
In 2027, Ramadan is expected to begin around 8 or 9 February, give or take a day depending on the sighting of the moon, with Eid al-Fitr around 9 or 10 March. If your team building falls in this period, some of your participants may be fasting from sunrise to sunset, as may some of the local suppliers’ staff.
Adjust the rhythm rather than cancelling: physical activities in the morning, quieter workshops in the afternoon, and a shared dinner when the fast is broken, at around 6.15pm in mid-February and just after 6.30pm in early March, as Ramadan ends. Nobody should have to say whether they are fasting: a programme that works for everyone is enough. Our month-by-month 2027 calendar places these dates alongside the year’s other constraints.
How do you handle arrivals from several countries?
Since 20 September 2026, Morocco has been on GMT all year round. Marrakech is one hour behind Paris in winter and two hours behind when France is on summer time, from 28 March to 31 October 2027. It is on the same time as London in winter and one hour behind in summer. Our article on a company offsite for a remote team gives the time in other cities and how to schedule video calls with colleagues back at the office.
Flights are booked by you or your travel agent. On the ground, group transfers by arrival wave rather than by person, and schedule nothing important on day one before the last expected participant has landed. Someone arriving alone during the day can take a taxi, at roughly 70 to 150 dirhams from the airport.
Entry requirements for Morocco depend on each person’s nationality: check them early, participant by participant, with the relevant authorities. Our article on group visas for a corporate event in Morocco (in French) covers the subject.
How should you mix the teams?
The point of international team building is to get people working together who normally only meet on video calls. Left to themselves, teams form by language, country or office. So build them yourself, in advance, using three criteria: mix countries and departments, make sure each team has at least two people comfortable in the working language, and avoid leaving someone as the only speaker of their first language if they struggle with the common one.
Reshuffle the teams from one activity to the next, so everyone meets twice as many colleagues. Seat people at dinner on the same principle, at least for the first evening, before letting tables form freely.
What does a two-day programme for 60 people look like?
Day 1. Arrivals in the morning, transfers in waves, lunch. Opening session in the early afternoon, in the working language, setting out the aims of the trip and the team line-ups. Late afternoon, a Moroccan cooking class in mixed teams. Dinner.
Day 2. Working session in the morning, in small groups then in plenary. Lunch, then a craft workshop with new teams. In the evening, dinner in a privately hired riad with live musicians: music needs no translation. Departures the next morning according to flights.
Using the model behind our online calculator, for 60 people, two nights in a 4-star hotel, two working days with AV, both workshops, transfers and local transport:
| Item | Range |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 2 nights in single rooms | €9,600 to €15,600 |
| Working days (meeting room, breaks, lunches) and AV | €7,200 to €11,400 |
| Day 1 dinner and private riad evening with musicians | €8,400 to €16,700 |
| Cooking and craft workshops | €4,200 to €6,900 |
| Airport transfers and local transport | €1,600 to €2,900 |
| Total including 10% contingency | €34,100 to €58,800, or €570 to €980 per person |
These figures exclude flights, alcoholic drinks, tourist tax, organisation fees and any interpreter. Nearly a third of the gap between the bottom and top of the range comes from the riad evening (dinner, venue hire, musicians), whose cost varies widely from one venue to another.
What Saphyyr Events does
Saphyyr Events has offices in Paris and Marrakech and works in English and French, both with you and with suppliers on the ground. Our team runs activities in both languages, so instructions are clearly understood and safety stays under control. You plan the project with a single point of contact who coordinates suppliers, accommodation, catering and transfers, and the programme takes your participants’ profiles and dietary requirements into account. Our team is on site for the whole programme. We provide a free, detailed quote based on your numbers and dates; flights are booked by you or your travel agent.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good team building activity for a multicultural team?
A hands-on workshop such as Moroccan cooking or crafts: people learn by watching, without depending on language. Avoid general knowledge quizzes and improv, which favour those playing in their first language.
Can team building in Marrakech run in English?
Yes. Our team runs activities in English and French. Choose one working language, state it in the invitation and give the key instructions in writing.
How do you handle dietary needs for an international group?
Ask everyone on the registration form, with no explanation required, and pass the list to the caterer in advance. In Morocco food is halal by default; provide good alcohol-free drinks and keep alcohol optional, served only where it is permitted (a licensed venue, or a private venue with a special permit).
What budget for two days with 60 people?
According to our model, around €34,100 to €58,800, or €570 to €980 per person, for two nights in a 4-star hotel, two working days, two workshops, a riad evening with musicians, transfers and local transport, excluding flights.
To build a programme around your team, see our team building in Marrakech page, price your own scenario with the seminar and team building budget calculator, or ask for a free quote, telling us which countries your participants are travelling from.