Corporate Travel Destinations

Embarking on barge cruises on the rivers of Europe has become a popular option for both business and leisure travel; however, companies with smaller budgets or time constraints that will not allow them to send their employees or clients overseas can still partake in river cruising. River cruises are perfect for incentive travel for employees or customers, executive retreats, smaller corporate events and fundraisers. With many river cruise options available in the U.S., river cruising is a viable, affordable option for companies large and small.

American river cruises include ships on some of the better known rivers in the U.S., such as the Mississippi River, Missouri River and Columbia River, as well as the Great Lakes and rivers that run through Alaska, the South, the Heartland and other regions. River cruise ships offer the luxury and comfort of seafaring vessels, although they are much smaller than their oceangoing counterparts.

Because of their smaller size and more intimate environment, river cruises are particularly well-suited for team building vacations, executive retreats and incentive travel packages. River cruises can take place on a barge, steamboat or small ship and provide a different travel experience than other business and leisure travel options. By their nature, river cruises allow participants to see small towns and natural beauty that are often missed when taking more conventional vacations.

To plan a U.S. river cruise, visit Seasite.com to find helpful group cruise planning tools.

The picturesque nation of Tunisia boasts miles of pristine beaches on the Mediterranean Sea along its northern and eastern borders, Algeria as its neighbor to the west and Libya to the southeast. As Africa’s northernmost country, it has the distinctive characteristic of having both part of the Sahara desert and beautiful Mediterranean seaside resorts within its boundaries. With each passing year, Tunisia becomes more popular as a tourist destination, particularly for history lovers, beach enthusiasts and fans of Star Wars movies.

Tunisia’s rich culture and numerous sites of historical importance are the result of its many inhabitants over the ages, including Phoenician, Byzantine, Berber, Roman and Arab cultures. Some of these sites include the Bardo Museum located in an Ottoman palace, the El-Jem Coluseum and Kairouan, which is an Islamic holy city. With a variety of festivals throughout the year, villages where visitors can shop for traditional handicrafts and its diverse geography, Tunisia has something to offer to any type of traveler. This makes it an ideal option for corporate events, executive retreats or incentive travel programs.

Participants are sure to enjoy the many leisure options available, including lounging on the beach, shopping for blankets, rugs and copper pieces, taking a tour of Star Wars filming locations, exploring ancient villages or browsing in open-air souks when not in meetings.

If you are in search of a family-friendly destination for customer appreciation, employee appreciation or incentive travel, you may want to consider sunny Newport Beach in Southern California. This seaside town has attractions that appeal to all ages and great weather throughout the year, making it an ideal location for a family vacation. While sunbathing, swimming or surfing at the beach are some of the most popular – and most obvious – attractions, other outdoor activities include boating, jet skiing, rollerblading and bicycling, and the equipment for each can be easily rented right on or near the beach.

Once families have had enough of lounging on the sand and building sand castles, they can head to the popular Toy Boat Toy Boat Toy Boat toy store on East Coast Highway, where they will find games, activities and toys for kids of all ages. If parents prefer a little adult time to play golf or shop, teens can be dropped off at the Balboa Fun Zone, or the entire family can spend the day there enjoying a variety of activities, games, restaurants and beaches.

There are also plenty of family-friendly dining options for quick snacks or full meals, as well as coffee shops, snack bars and cafés within easy walking distance of hotels and the beach.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is one of the most popular travel destinations in the South. With world-class golf courses, beautiful beaches, resort hotels, fabulous shopping, exquisite dining options and a plethora of entertainment, visitors to Myrtle Beach are never at a loss for how to spend their time, which means that your event attendees will have plenty of options for evenings and free days while attending your corporate meeting or event.

As for meeting space, Myrtle Beach is home to several hotels that can accommodate small- to mid-size groups, as well as the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, which offers 250,000 square feet of customizable space to meet your needs. Part of this space includes a 100,800-square-foot exhibition hall that has no columns and can be divided into three separate spaces. All meeting spaces are equipped with high-speed, wireless Internet access, and the exhibition hall has water, cable and electricity available throughout. The Convention Center also has a banquet kitchen that is able to cater full-meal events with up to 5,000 in attendance, 1,400 parking spaces, and 402 guest rooms in the newly opened Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel on the same property.

Located just three miles from the Myrtle Beach International Airport and walking distance to dining, shopping and entertainment, the Myrtle Beach Convention Center is as convenient for your participants as it is for you as a planner.

The green meeting movement is in full swing and many companies are scrambling to make their meetings and corporate events as eco-friendly as possible. This can boost their public image, shows their commitment to limiting their impact on the environment and can make attendees feel good about the efforts being put forth; however, it can also mean higher pricing. In fact, the fear of significantly higher prices is one of the main reasons that other companies are not taking more steps to green their corporate meetings, events and travel. There is s a perception that going green automatically means doubling your event expenses and, while this certainly does not have to be the case, there are good reasons why some folks think this.

The problem is green gouging. Just like any new trend, there are some folks who see this as a way to make more money and are hiking up prices on organic or local food, sustainably-sourced products and other necessities for green events. Meeting and event planners should expect a slightly higher price on some environmentally-friendly items, which is completely justifiable; however, some venues are taking advantage of this opportunity to freely overcharge folks who care about their event’s impact.

Oftentimes, this can result from the fact they do not have the vendors to meet the needs of folks who need organic or locally-grown food and other essentials. This can be avoided by opting for venues that are just as committed to eco-friendly meetings as you are, and that already have established relationships with green vendors.

When it comes to transportation, there are several ways you can cut costs without giving up too much quality. In fact, if you sell it right, your attendees will never even know the changes were made to save money. For example, many meeting and event options that are eco-friendly also offer significant cost savings, which makes these options even more appealing for corporate planners.

One example is choosing to hold your corporate meeting or event closer to home. This allows you to avoid paying for expensive airfares and allows you to use more cost-effective transportation options, such as train travel and bus charters. Because air travel has a huge environmental impact, it is easy to sell the avoidance of flying to meetings as an eco-friendly measure. This allows your employer or client to benefit from the positive public sentiment green meetings encourage, as well as the cost savings this option allows.

If you cannot avoid flying to your destination, you can still save money by offering only business class or coach seating, or by holding your event near the airport to save on ground transportation. While airport hotels were once considered a less-than-ideal option, many have undergone considerable renovations or have added enticing extras to make these locations far more appealing.

Airport hotels almost always get a bad rap and, other than the convenience and close proximity to the airport, most travelers see little positive about staying in them. This is even truer when it comes to actually holding a conference, convention or corporate meeting in one. Ask most planners and they are sure to say that they and their clients would rather use a downtown property, and don’t even get them started about the noise from the planes flying overhead. However, it turns out that many airport hotels really do not deserve this reputation and recent full-scale renovations have many competing quite successfully with their downtown counterparts.

An excellent example of this is the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Mall of America, located just three miles from the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. This 300-room hotel has 22,000 square feet of space for events, including a 7,500-square-foot ballroom and nine meeting rooms. As an added bonus, the hotel is adjacent to a wildlife refuge, which offers excellent views from many of the rooms and meeting spaces and – perhaps most importantly – makes the entire area a no-fly zone. The wildlife refuge also has a 125-seat auditorium and 8,000 square feet of event space located in its visitor center, increasing the possibilities for planners that opt for this destination.

Searching for a great meeting destination in Atlantic City?  The Tropicana Casino and Resort offers luxury ocean view guest rooms and suites, round the clock casino gaming, gourmet dining, live entertainment and shopping.  Of course Brighton and the famous Boardwalk are other attractions that will please your guests, as well.  A world class experience awaits your meeting attendees, when you plan an exceptional meeting, event, conference or convention at the Tropicana.

The Tropicana offers more than 122,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting and event space, accommodating more than 675 meetings and conventions each year.  With an 18,000 sq. ft. ballroom and 20,000 sq. ft. Grand Exhibition Center, state-of-the-art video conferencing and audio visual equipment, and high speed internet access, the Tropicana can handle all of your meeting and event needs.

Charlotte Harbor in southwest Florida has not previously been a top pick for corporate events. While it boasts exceptional natural beauty and ecological diversity, it is only recently becoming known as a hotspot for conventions, exhibitions and meetings. Prior to January 2009, there was a dearth of viable venues for events; however, the opening of the Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference Center has changed that completely. The conference center is situated on the water in a historic area of downtown Punta Gorda and offers 45,230 square feet of customizable space.

Since its opening, the Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference Center has hosted local events, exhibitions and sporting events and is getting rave reviews from planners. Aside from this ideal convention space, Charlotte Harbor also offers five National Wildlife Refuges, pristine beaches and excellent kayaking opportunities. Charlotte Harbor has long been known for its commitment to caring for the environment and wildlife in the area, and this commitment continues as they grow into a top destination for corporate travel. As part of this commitment, there are numerous opportunities to see and experience nature at its finest, including several tours through swamps, birding trails and animal rehabilitation centers that welcome visitors.

Visitors are also sure to enjoy the cobblestone streets and architecture from the 1920s that grace much of downtown Punta Gorda in close proximity to the conference center.

Corporate incentive travel is meant to be fun, memorable and a bit on the luxury side. Above all else, it should truly feel like a reward for the hard work and loyalty of staff members, and should make them feel appreciated and acknowledged. As a corporate travel planner, this is likely already at the top of your list when planning incentive travel packages; however, you are likely also always on the lookout for small, inexpensive ways to improve the experience of incentive travel winners, while still being able to easily stay within your predetermined budget.

One easy way to do this is through the use of incentive travel gifts that are related to the destination. Many gifts of this nature can be purchased affordably and are a nice addition to travel packages that will surely be appreciated by the recipients. Gifts can be as simple as a map of the local area or a guidebook listing attractions and information of interest to visitors, or they can be more extravagant, such as gift cards to upscale area restaurants, tickets to the ballet or opera, or personalized luggage. There are also many fun options that can be location-specific, such as sunglasses and beach towels for beach destinations, or hats and scarves for trips to ski resorts.