Corporate Travel Destinations

Meetings in other countries have been a popular concept for businesses over the past several years, especially as air travel continues to become increasingly affordable. Several countries have developed entire regions dedicated to earning the business of enterprise clients and this business serves many purposes:

• Businesses get great deals on accommodations and entertainment, often with amazing all inclusive packages. The prices offered by many developing countries on goods, services, and accommodations are absolutely unbeatable and in volume can even make up for the price of airfare.
• Attendants of such events or meetings get a chance to travel and see the world. This broadens perspectives, increases loyalty, and even gets the mind working in entirely new ways. Who knows what the benefit will be of stirring up the creative juices with new stimuli, but they are bound to be profound and lasting.
• The communities in developing nations that have invested heavily in building the infrastructure necessary to attract business customers benefit from having tourists and may even have other business opportunities worth looking into. Some countries develop business-oriented tourist facilities in tandem with plans to build business parks and production facilities that could further enhance the relationship between a developing country and businesses looking to lower their bottom line. The result can be a win-win situation if the circumstances are right.

So you have planned a meeting on foreign soil. It’s not even that foreign, it’s Canada for Pete’s sake. What can go wrong?

If you have ever said those words in those circumstances, you already know how wrong that was. No matter where people are traveling outside the U.S. borders, there are rules and regulations. It’s difficult–if not impossible–to know them all, and they change frequently

In the May, 2009 issue of “Smart Meetings,” John Anderson illustrates that  point very well with an example from Canadian entry regulations in his article “Bienvenidos Bienvenue and Welcome.” Not only does one now need a passport to travel into the country by any means, Canadian officials can deny a traveler entry for having a criminal record. And who could blame them? However, it becomes important in that case to understand what a criminal record is. Continue reading »