Corporate Travel Destinations

In a recent blog article posted by Cvent entitled, Caribbean Incentive Travel: Summer Travel Benefits, the top 10 reasons why the Caribbean is a great destination for summer incentive travel are outlined.  While all those are valid reasons, I thought it would be interesting to raise the idea a notch by providing the top 10 benefits to CRUISING the Caribbean for Summer Incentive Travel.

So, here goes:

1.     Lower Cruise Fares – Many cruise lines offer summer deals and specials.
2.    Ability to Visit Different Islands – Why stay put in one resort when you have the whole Caribbean to explore?
3.    No Need to Unpack Several Times – Do it once and you’re free to enjoy the rest of your trip as you island hop.
4.    Activities to Suit All Ages – Whether its the adrenaline rush of the exciting Zip Line ride, surfing the day away on a Surf Simulator or brushing up on your golf skills, there’s something for level of desired activity for any age (also included in the fare!!).  Kid’s Clubs allow for some parental downtime and a variety of spa services are also available on board (spa services are separate).
5.    Meeting Facilities and Event Venues are FREE to Reserve – While resort hotels may discount them during the summer months, on a cruise ship they’re always FREE!
6.    Variety of Dining Options – With multiple restaurants to choose from included in the fare (and some additional exclusive options available for a nominal charge), you’ll never be bored at meal time.
7.    Beat the Summer Heat- What better way to get away from the city heat than to sit back and enjoy the tropical breezes and breath-taking beauty of the Caribbean.
8.    Air Travel More Affordable and Convenient to US Ports – Many airlines have frequent and reasonable flights to cities such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale where cruise ships board, rather than paying a premium to fly directly to an island and having limited flight options.
9.    Expansive Selection of Entertainment Choices – Enjoy a Broadway-class show, dance the night away in one of the many lounges and clubs or partake in deck-side festivities, there’s always something exciting to do on board and once again, included in the fare!!!!

And the last and probably most AMAZING…

10.    Fabulous Sunsets from the Middle of the Ocean-  Truly a sight to behold as you stand on deck and marvel at nature’s wonder while the skies are painted in hues of pinks and oranges.  It’s a view that simply can’t compare to land-locked sunsets.

It was a widely held belief that people who cruised were either honeymooners or an older, less-mobile crowd.  Either way, you were subjected to small cabins, cheesy entertainment and banquet hall-type cuisine.  However, in the last 15 years all that has dramatically changed. 

Cruise lines have revolutionized how people cruise in the 21^st century by offering exciting sporting and recreational activities, Broadway-caliber entertainment and gourmet fine dining.  In doing so, they have succeeded in attracting a younger, more active crowd which has reinvigorated the industry.

The corporate meeting and special events market has also reaped some of these rewards with state-of-the art meeting rooms and technological amenities to rival and surpass any “traditional conference room”.   The advantages to booking a corporate meeting do not end there.  Many ships provide concierge meeting planning assistance making it a one stop shop for all your planning needs.  Plus, with pricing that includes all meals, entertainment, and ship-board activities, planning a budget for your special event is a breeze.

The Cruise Lines International Association reports that 15 million people went on a cruise last year compared to 500,000 in 1970.   Corporate meetings and special events at sea have also increased substantially and it’s easy to see why.  After all, where else can you zip-line nine decks above an ocean liner in-between meeting programs?   

Different cultures have developed different business habits and trends, a fact that still needs to be contended with in our modern corporate environment. While globalization has certainly reduced the overall number of differences between different cultures and their meeting styles by allowing a freer flow of ideas, it still falls to the meeting planners to understand the different concepts different cultures have about time and business etiquette.

For example, in the United States and England meetings start and stop at a pre-appointed time regardless of nearly anything else. In fact, some sketch comedy troupes have made fun of this reliance on time be showing whole middle management teams unable to leave a burning meeting room because it was not yet time or suffering some similar fate while bound to the tick-tock of a clock.

In some European cultures, particular Spain and Italy, meetings might begin at a predetermined time or perhaps a little later but they do not end until a resolution has been reached. This means that scheduling an afternoon meeting might be taken as a sign of low significance by some as there is always the likelihood that a morning meeting would run long. In some Asian cultures time is less important and meetings might begin whenever all parties are ready and may end for any reason or for little discernible reason at all.

Modern meetings at sea are a potentially high tech affair full of alternative meeting formats and interesting ideas. Furthermore, there are many concerns that people have that are no longer serious issues when planning meetings at sea, such as:

• Price – Some people associate meetings at sea with high prices but nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is that meetings at sea are incredibly affordable by nearly any standard one chooses to use considering the all-inclusive nature of most tickets. Negligible expenses for entertainment and food are just part of the package!
• Motion sickness – Today’s cruise liners are positively enormous and are very steady in all but the most dangerous of waters. While one can never predict Mother Nature, science has severely reduced the odds of a massive ocean liner winding up in unfriendly seas. Furthermore, most ships have their own mini-hospitals will full staffs on hand for anything from motion sickness to an unexpected delivery!
• Lack of choice – A few decades ago cruise liners were half the size that they are today, and that meant a limitation on meal selections and other options. Modern cruise ships have multiple restaurants, bars, and even dance clubs contained within their massive hulls to give patrons a variety of dining, shopping, leisure, exercise, and even meeting options!

Two parties meeting often produces more than a little anxiety, especially when business is involved. Learning how to plan ice breakers into meetings is an art, and it is one that certain cultures have learned to excel at. Instead of spending a lot of time doing formal mixers and other events, consider the following:

• The Japanese prefer tea – Sitting down for a tea and discussing anything but business is a common traditional business practice amongst the Japanese, yet it is starting to fade away. One advantage of this is that it allows people to develop a rapport before they begin conducting formal business.
• The Scots sometimes meet over 9 or 18 holes – While it takes a little while to get to business, many business arrangements have actually been arranged on the back nine. The first few holes might be just pleasantries, but once those are over with the structure of the game takes over and business can be conducted with less pressure and a modicum of enjoyment.
• Meet at the gym, spa, or sauna – Some people prefer alternative meeting formats such as meeting side by side but not face to face on a pair of massage tables or at the gym in the spinning room. Sometimes a change of pace is just what it takes to start a new relationship off on the right foot.

Companies have offered incentive cruise travel to employees and even partners for years now, but the tightening of budgets has caused some companies to drop their incentive cruise travel plans and other perks. As the economy starts to recover, this could prove to be a critical mistake that might end up in a massive exodus of workers from companies that do not offer incentive cruise travel to those that do.

Here’s the problem: the workers that have not been offered sufficient incentives seem to be ready to leave their jobs at the soonest possible convenience. This means that they are usually feeling under appreciated in the sense that matters most to them: the pocketbook. There are plenty of options to get around this, but paying every worker what they are worth is the most expensive choice. Offering inclusive cruise travel with or without additional duties such as meeting with clients or partners can easily offer a tangible incentive for the whole office.

Incentive cruise travel and be a single or periodic replacement for offering proper financial compensation for dozens of employees during financially lean times. When the bottom line improves, by all means start paying more to keep talent. Until then, consider using incentive cruise travel to keep employees loyal and working hard instead of hardly looking while browsing Monster.com in their spare time.

Not everyone knows all of the upsides of meetings at sea, and that could cause a poor decision to be made. In fact, it is probably accurate to suggest that many that have already considered meetings at sea may not be aware of some of the benefits or how to leverage them effectively. Business is all about seeing opportunities and learning how to leverage appropriately, and this includes learning how and when to use the hidden benefits of meetings at sea.

The biggest advantage to having meetings at sea is simple: almost everything is included at a great price. This is often overlooked when people compare the price of rooms alone to cabin space aboard a vessel. The fact of the matter is that the cost of entertainment, meals, meeting rooms, and more also needs to be factored into the equation. This can be leveraged at any time.

One of the secret upsides to meeting at sea is that there are choices when it comes to those inclusive options. For example, do you want a different catering or a different menu? Ask! Chances are good that the request can be met. Want to hold a meeting in a private sauna? Ask! How about private access to that fancy club? Again, just ask. If there was one common theme about the surprising upsides of meetings at sea it would simply be that most people do not know that they should ask.

More and more businesses are tightening their budgets, but that leaves an opening for businesses willing to offer inventive travel to their staff, partners, suppliers, customers, and/or political contacts. Here’s what you really need to know when you start planning your incentive travel options:

• As the competition retreats into walls of financial security, you get the opportunity to step up your relations with workers, vendors, suppliers, and other contacts. Use it or someone else will.
• If you do decide to invest extra in incentive travel options to redefine your business, make sure everything else is suitably classed up. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so building a strong link next to several weak links is not a good idea.
• Make sure that the offers are given to the right people. Employees tend to enjoy competitions, but some suppliers or partners might take umbrage to finding out that a peer was invited on a company-sponsored vacation when they were not.
• Be sure to target partners or vendors that look like they have more than just the bottom line in mind, and look carefully at employees that are worth far more than they are being paid. Both are likely to look at other options when they get the chance.

There are many different companies offering cruise meetings and cruise events, which means that consumers actually have a choice. This might not be immediately obvious as many people still consider cruise meetings to be an alternative meeting format. Despite this common misconception, there are a few things that one needs to consider when evaluating different cruise lines: What is their focus? Some cruise lines handle cruise meetings but have a focus on specific aspects or target audiences.

• Where do the cruises go? Not all cruise liners travel to all parts of the world. If certain locations are important then there is going to be a limitation placed on the available cruise lines to meet business needs. Fewer choices tends to drive price up.
• Do they charter? Some cruise lines offer chartering of small, medium, and even full-sized cruise liners for the right amount of money. Chartering cruise liners can actually be surprisingly affordable for businesses with the means, especially compared to the alternatives.
• What are the meeting facilities like? Most cruise liners have meeting facilities, though space is always at a premium aboard a vessel at sea. This means that larger meetings need to be held in dining halls, theaters, and other rooms. Sometimes this can be the perfect invitation for unique meeting formats, so be willing to be flexibile.