Corporate Travel Destinations

Cruises are unique corporate destinations for a number of reasons, but one of the least considered reasons would be the fact that the trip really is the destination. Consider how much time busy businesspeople waste every year traveling all around the world in order to get to Conference A or Seminar B. Now take that time and multiply it by an executive salary, add in hotel and travel fees from multiple companies and the number quickly balloons in the billions or trillions of dollars.

Consider the difference that cruise meetings have ot offer to the bottom line:

• The amount of time that expensive business people spend on cruises tends to be more productive than time spent on aircraft and/or airports.
• Most cruises feature multiple ports of call, which makes flights shorter and less airline/airplane transfers likely.
• Businesspeople also get to recharge their mental and social batteries while on cruises, and that alone is difficult to put a price tag on. It certainly beats allowing high-powered individuals to take time off and spend time on the golf course.
• The fact that the method of travel is actually a destination in and of itself means that more work and more relaxation can be enjoyed.
• By getting more services from a single vendor, in this case the cruise line, it is possible to save lots of money.

One of the best aspects of cruise meeting planning is that most cruise liners have in-house planners and a complete staff to take care of virtually every possible need and/or want. The result is that anyone handling cruise meeting planning can be as thorough and detailed as they like, or they can go the other route and allow the in-house planners and staff to take over some of the burden. Here are a few examples to consider when determining how much effort to put into cruise meeting planning:

Most cruise ships have at least one chef, many now have upwards of five, and full catering staffs on call. This means that catering options are already available right out of the box, and amount of time and energy you spend planning meals and parties is up to you.

Virtually all cruise ships have activities directors, and many cruise ships reserve space upon request for group activities. If you need space for a meeting, or just a private social gathering, all you have to do is ask. The question is: where do you stop asking? The event/activity coordinator can probably handle a lot more than just setting aside a room if only they asked.

Save money and allocate resources more efficiently by determining which aspects of the meeting planning should be handled in-house and which can be well-executed by someone else.