Case study · Manpower
Manpower · Incentive travel in Cartagena, Colombia: Circle of the Stars
Muisca™ Travel & Events designed and produced Circle of the Stars, a five-day incentive in Cartagena for 64 Manpower winners and companions from 11 Latin American countries, from a welcome by palenqueras to an awards night on the city wall and a private island in the Rosario archipelago.
64 of Manpower’s best from 11 countries, five days in Cartagena, one circle of stars.
One of 120+ programmes Muisca Travel & Events has designed and produced in Colombia.
| Client | Manpower |
|---|---|
| Program type | Incentive Travel |
| City | Cartagena |
| Dates | March 18–22, 2026 |
| Group size | 64 winners and companions |
| Duration | 5 days |
| Muisca role | Incentive Travel; Creative Concept & Experience Design; Legacy & Community Integration |
The Brief
The brief
Manpower rewards its best people with a trip that has to do more than a good hotel and a beach. Circle of the Stars gathered 38 winners and their companions, 64 guests from 11 countries, for five days that had to make each of them feel recognised, bring together teams that had never met, and leave memories tied to the achievement and to the place. The brief was explicit that Cartagena should not be the backdrop: its heritage, food, music, craft and coast were to be part of the recognition itself. And the awards had to sit inside the story, not at the end of a dinner.
The Creative Concept
The idea
Muisca’s premise was one sentence: do not take the guests to Cartagena, design an experience that could only happen in Cartagena. Every day was given a purpose within a larger story. The welcome introduced the Caribbean through the people who embody it. A day in the walled city was lived through the senses rather than toured. The awards night took the city wall itself. And the last full day gave the group a private island. Colombian craft ran through all of it, so that what guests took home was a piece of the country rather than a souvenir.
The experience
The programme
Five days for 64 of Manpower’s best from 11 countries, designed so that Cartagena itself was the recognition. Palenqueras, coconuts and hand-woven fans at the welcome; the walled city discovered through the senses, ceviche, sweets, painting and street rhythm; an afternoon of Colombian coffee and rum; a private island in the Rosario archipelago with a hat from Aguadas for everyone; and a night of the stars on the city wall, where sculptures inspired by Botero, one for each country in the room, were presented as trophies.
The Results
The proof
Circle of the Stars did what Manpower asked of it: 64 people from 11 countries left Cartagena feeling recognised, connected to colleagues they had not known, and carrying a piece of Colombia they could hold. For Muisca it is the proof that an incentive for a mid-sized group can be built entirely from the destination’s own culture and craft, run without a single incident, and still feel exclusive at every turn.
The numbers behind the programme
- 64 guests, 38 winners and their companions, from 11 countries
- Five days and four nights, one hotel, 150+ room nights
- 17 arrival flights and 24 departure flights met and tracked, without an incident
- One private island in the Rosario archipelago for the group alone
- 64 iraca fans, 64 Wayuu mochilas and 64 aguadeño hats, each made by hand in Colombia
- 84 Cartagena suppliers paid directly, 41 of them individuals
- 99% of the programme’s spend stayed in Cartagena
- A six-day inspection visit six months ahead, with the client
The community layer
Ninety-nine per cent of what the programme cost was spent in Cartagena, across 84 suppliers, 41 of them individual artists, musicians, guides and makers paid directly. The three gifts were crafts, not merchandise: iraca fans woven by hand, Wayuu mochilas from the indigenous weavers of La Guajira, and aguadeño hats from Aguadas, each with a story and a maker behind it. No single-use plastic was used: water in glass, drinks in reusable coolers, a welcome kit in a tote bag with no plastic in it, china on every table and cardboard straws in the welcome coconuts.
Capabilities
What this programme demonstrates
What a buyer can take from this case.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about this programme
By reserving what matters: a private island for the day, the city wall for the awards, a terrace for the welcome. Exclusivity comes from the group having a place to itself at the right moments, not from the size of the budget.
Yes, and they should be. For Manpower the trophies were sculptures inspired by Botero, one for each country and region in the room, presented on the city wall. The recognition became the night, not an item on it.
By designing the first evening as a meeting rather than a briefing, and by giving every day a shared experience the group lives together: a rally, a tasting, an island. Sixty-four people from 11 countries left as one circle.
It designs it in rather than declaring it: crafts instead of merchandise, glass instead of plastic, local suppliers instead of imports. On this programme 99% of the spend stayed in Cartagena and no single-use plastic was used.