Corporate Travel Destinations

What make the International Centre in Toronto one of the best spots for international conferences? Many things, top among them is location.

Toronto is closer than you think, in fact, 60% of the United States population is a 90-minute plane ride away from this magnificent city. Major cities within this area include Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Washington, D.C.

The International Centre offers 48,000 square feet of conference space. It is possible to break this down into 15 rooms to accommodate several venues at one time. Parking is never a problem as they have space for 5,000 vehicles (although finding your car could be challenging). An onsite UPS store is available for copying and other business services. Wireless internet service is also available throughout the complex.

Team building is done in the Centre’s kitchen. Groups of eight to twenty can play Iron Chef in the state of the art kitchen. The exercise can be purely competition or instructional. Either way, the team that cooks together works together better in the boardroom.

The chef’s table is located in the kitchen giving conference attendees a behind the scenes view. Chef Joe Levesque presides over a team that serves up to 2,500 people at a time. Try matching that on the Iron Chef.

Whether your conference attendees are going to Las Vegas or Moscow, you will need to provide lots of information for them regarding health and safety. While a great source of up-to-date information is the United States State Department, you should also have a counterpart in the host country who can give you the details of the culture your travelers are entering.

Safety

In general, there are overall safety tips for all travelers. Leave valuables at home, keep your money and credit cards close to your body in a traveler’s pack, don’t bring any more identification than is necessary (and for the love of Pete leave your social security card home), among others. However, make sure your attendees know what areas of the town and country are unsafe, where hospitals and police stations are, and equipment them with emergency numbers.

Health

If they are traveling out of their hometowns, states, or the country, they need to make sure their insurance will cover doctor and hospital stays if there should be an accident or illness. They should also be well advised on pre-trip preparations as well as where the local health clinics are that serve outsiders. Many foreign countries actually have American hospitals. Make sure they have phone numbers and maps.

In general, while you are not responsible for the safety and health preparations of your client’s travelers, you want to provide a thorough service. However, the best reason for preparing all of this for them is that you care. Your client will remember that.