Corporate Travel Destinations

The world is full of unique corporate travel destinations, but the Pacific Rim has been the focus of the majority of business travel for the past few decades. It appears that Latin America might be making a comeback despite some countries in the area still holding less than friendly political feelings towards the United States in particular and developed nations in general.

That notwithstanding, the fact of the matter is that Latin America is booming and is ready for business. Corporate travel destinations have been established in Mexico, not far from major manufacturing facilities and textile plants. Brazil has an amazing number of extremely high tech manufacturing facilities that produce everything from vehicles to the latest microprocessors. No longer are countries like China, Japan, and Taiwan looking like good long term investments, but Latin America also has plenty more to offer.

Unique cultures, values that more familiar to those from Western cultures are also on tap as well as lower airfares and governments that seem less likely to support local businesses over the rule of law. The result is that longer term investment in Latin America is just another great reason to consider many of our southern neighbors for your next corporate travel destination. The changes a few decades have brought can be truly amazing.

Travel is one of the best incentives a company can offer employees, partners, potential clients, existing clients, and even suppliers. Travel usually needs to be business-related, but that is actually surprisingly easy to accomplish. If you have not considered travel incentives yet, think about the following:

• Employee Motivation – If employees are starting to look at Monster.com or otherwise job hunt instead of work, then there is a problem. Sometimes it is not practical to solve such problems with increased salaries, but if a seminar might benefit the company then it could prove to be the basis for a great intra-office competition where the top employee or employees get to enjoy a paid vacation on the company dime.
• Customer Loyalty – Everyone in the business community has figured out that there is much more to business than the bottom line. There are perks to consider as well, and those companies that offer perks to suppliers and customers alike find that their shipments arrive with less difficulty and that customers overlook small differences in bids in favor of a name that they know and trust.
• Potential Clients Convert Better – Potential clients often need to be ‘buttered up’ in order to get them to convert. Why not give a sales pitch during 18 holes on a great golf course? Who could resist an invitation like that?

Inclusive business incentives are a type of travel that includes everything that the traveler will typically need. This ranges from the business meeting rooms to meals and a room, and may even cover a few recreational activities in some cases. The good news is that not only are inclusive business incentives easy to plan, they are affordable and good for public relations.

Why are inclusive business incentives typically good for public relations? The answer is that most of the venues offering the best deals on inclusive business incentives are developing countries that are placing an emphasis and promoting their tourism infrastructure. Governments around the world are passing law after law to compete for inclusive business travel of all kinds, which typically makes the inclusive business incentives even more desirable as the locations can be very exotic.

There are also more traditional inclusive business travel destinations that also offer great inclusive incentives, but the best deals are often in developing nations. For those that prefer specific destinations, such as Hawaii or the Cayman Islands, there are still great bargains to be had by going with inclusive travel planning versus paying the local rate and negotiating with several vendors for a wide variety of goods, services, and entertainment options. This makes inclusive business incentives affordable compared to any alternative, even if the good PR option is not taken.

When organizations contact a meeting planner, they are often trying to plan corporate travel on a budget. Many organizations find themselves in this financial dilemma. They understand the need for business travel incentives, but because of they unstable economy their budgets are a bit constrained. Deciding where and how to save money when planning incentive travel can be somewhat tricky. Organizations do not want to be extremely frugal with destinations, accommodations, or dining because this can make incentive travel unappealing. For organizations that desire assistance with incentive planning, a meeting planner may suggest the organization scrutinize their program content. By eliminating unnecessary program content, an organization may be able to save thousands of dollars.

One meeting planner determined how much a company could save by eliminating bottled water from a 3-day meeting. It was determined that the company would save over $65,000 by not offering attendees bottled water. As one can see, small incidentals can have large expenses. While eliminating bottled water may not be right for every organization, this example shows the effect that seemingly insignificant items can have on an organization's business travel budget. By carefully scrutinizing a meeting's program content, organizations may be able to save a bundle.

It is imperative that a meeting planner have good understanding of what type of incentives will motivate the individuals employed by an organization. The travel incentives that work for one organization's employees may not always work for another. Therefore, a meeting planner has to use all of the meeting planning resources available to them when conducting business travel planning. According to some estimates, at least 10 percent of eligible trip participants chose not to take advantage of a business travel incentive because the trip was either unappealing or they experienced a timing conflict.

One way to ensure that incentive travel is appealing to the greatest number of eligible employees is for a meeting planner to do his or her homework. Simple surveys may not be adequate to determine those destinations that will truly motivate employees. A meeting planner will need to devise unique ways in which to tap into the desires of an organization's employees. Business travel incentives that seem impersonal and generic may not be appealing to the masses. Organizations need to make certain that the greatest number of their top performing employees are being rewarded through incentive travel, and a meeting planner can help organizations ensure this happens through superior planning.

Recent research suggests that people making retail purchases are examining their expenditure more closely before making decisions. In other words, there is a lot less of the willy-nilly cash throwing that the upper-middle class to the wealthy had been guilty of for so many years during the height of their prosperity. Now these same people are looking for better value and asking themselves if they really need this or that. And now, this research shows, they are happier as well.

What this means to meeting planners and their business is not so much that you will have less of it–although that could happen and may be happening now–but that you will have to focus your attention on value as well. This focus will, of course, be on the client’s behalf, so you may end up working a little harder to bring home your bacon. Continue reading »

When you think about the “Pacific Coast,” you are likely thinking of the seaboard of the western United States. Maybe even Hawaii makes it into your mental fray. However, if your client wants to book Pacific business travel you may be dealing any one of a host of other countries.

Asia

While Asia encompasses many different countries, a great deal of the business travel happens in China, Japan, India, Thailand, and a few other smaller countries (many of them Islands). These days Indonesia stands out as an Asian destination, as do several other of the beautiful islands in that area of the world. Continue reading »