Corporate Travel Destinations

If your organization is looking to organize its first group cruise, then you might need to find the perfect group cruise planner for your needs. If you do not know what to look for in a group cruise planner, then here are some ideas to help you find the right person for the job:

It might seem like a great cruise planner will be in demand, but that does not mean that they should be impatient or too busy to answer your questions. Event and cruise planning is a very competitive customer service industry, not a ‘customers serve us’ industry.

The perfect group cruise planner will have all of the basic information on hand regarding pricing, but special questions should require a follow up communication. This is normal, and do not be surprised if some of your requests require a little digging unless those requests seem like they should be run-of-the-mill. Knowing about room costs is run-of-the-mill, but questions about specific stocks of wine or champagne are less common and less likely to be remembered by even the best group cruise planners.

A great group cruise planner should be a listener. Group cruise planners know what is available, but they should also be willing to listen to new or specific ideas. After all, a group cruise is a significant investment in time and resources, and therefore it should be as close to perfect as possible.

Seasite.com is a one-stop group cruise planning portal from which you can source a cruise with all the cruise brands.  It is easy and efficient to source a cruise meeting with a single electronic RFP.

When most people think of meetings, they imagine themselves stuck within the confines of four walls sitting around a table for several hours. For this reason, when a meeting planner suggests the idea of meetings at sea, some organizations may balk at this notion. Many mistakenly believe that a hotel or resort would be most budget-friendly than a cruise ship charter. From conference rooms equipped with the latest in technology to on-board rock climbing walls, a cruise ship charter can offer an organization a fresh perspective on meeting spaces.

Group cruise planning is a great way to get employees outside the four walls of the conference room and motivate them to be more creative and innovative. For example, meeting at sea may be held in suites or villas with their own private decks. For organizations looking for team-building exercises, a cruise ships can offer mixed-use sports decks for employees to participate in a variety of activities. A meeting planner should keep in mind that event planning does not have to be held in a venue with the traditional four walls. In order for organizations to encourage their employees to look beyond the four walls, event planners have to look beyond the four walls, too.

When event planning, one of the biggest costs to a company or organization is entertainment. Tickets to a play, show, or concert can be costly, even when group rates are offered or discounts applied. While entertainment may seem like a luxury that can be disregarded, a meeting planner knows the importance of entertainment to the overall success of an event. It is imperative that companies provide meeting attendees with the opportunity to experience world-class entertainment. Providing meeting attendees with the opportunity to experience world-class entertainment on a budget is possible. A meeting planner can open a new world of possibilities to companies and organizations with incentive cruise meetings.

When planning corporate travel, meeting planning, or incentive planning, choosing a cruise for a meeting venue is an excellent idea. Meetings at sea can save an organization approximately 40 percent of the costs typically associated with land venue meeting such a hotel or resort. There are many various types of entertainment offers on-board a cruise ship; therefore, even the most discriminating of cruise participants should be able to find a show or concert with which they will be well pleased. For a small cover charge, cruise attendees can enjoy great entertainment without having to fight traffic or find their way around town.

Employees are often confined to offices or cubicles throughout the workday. They may have little time to interact with fellow employees, subordinates, or managers outside of the workplace. Even at the workplace there is little time for interaction outside of work-related topics or discussions. Employees are often busy working on projects that may include only a particular group of people, and the majority of the workforce may be unfamiliar with one another. A meeting planner understands the need to build in time for camaraderie when event planning. Whether this is accomplished through team building exercises or mutually agreeable leisure activities, building camaraderie is important for event planning.

Team building exercises are an excellent way to build camaraderie among employees. Team building exercises work great at any destination or venue. Group incentive destinations that are inherently more relaxing and offer attendees the chance to unwind are great venues for team building. Group incentive destinations that offer many leisure activities and entertainment options also provide attendees the opportunity to get know one another outside of the office. Finding common interests among employees is a great way to solidify a company's workforce. Choosing destinations that are ideal for team building and leisure activities can help build relationships among those employed by an organization.

A meeting planner is very aware of the different tastes and preferences that individuals have. There is always the chance that the group incentive destination will not be approved by all participants. For this reason, it is important that event planning be taken seriously and the same attention to detail given to each group event. The travel destination of choice should be carefully considered by the meeting planner and should take into account, when feasible, the preferences of attendees. If a travel destination was not well-received by the majority of attendees, then it may be wise to choose another locale or venue.

A few of the popular and well-liked incentive travel destinations are Orlando, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; and San Francisco, California. These locations are popular because of the excellent entertainment, attractions, and local fare available. Because the cities are popular tourist destinations, the vendors in these cities tend to cater to the needs of their guests. Feeling welcome and at-home is an important aspect of travel, and cities that thrive on tourism are typically great host cities. Even the most finicky of group incentive travel participants may enjoy trips to cities that are friendly, easily accessible, and provide a wealth of entertainment, leisure, and dining options.

There are many reasons for corporations to plan events close to their base of operations, but those reasons might be overshadowed by the benefits of selecting far away destinations. Here are the top four reasons to plan a corporate meeting far from the office.

1. New scenery and events shake things up, and there is nothing that will help get the creative juices flowing better than change. Staring at the same walls every day has employees trapped in the same rut, and an exciting change is likely to yield exciting results. A trip to the local park might not be as exciting as business cruise to a sun-drenched tropical getaway.
2. A cruise event might also be a great idea, as it combines both work and play. Team building exercises tend to work best when participants know each other well. Is there anything better than well-planned corporate travel/events to encourage teamwork?
3. Inclusive travel options mean that a cruise meeting or weekend retreat can be had at a fixed price. No more haggling, no more uncertainties, just a known quantity. This will keep the event planning sessions short and the accountants happier as well.
4. Employees, partners, and supplies may all appreciate incentive travel options. Rewarding performance and loyalty are excellent ways to build rapport.

Carbon emission offsetting is a controversial topic. There are three basic schools of thought: those who wholeheartedly support it, those who believe it lets folks off easy and puts off finding other viable solutions, and those who think it is simply a money-making scheme. While not everyone believes carbon offsetting is the answer, it is certainly growing in popularity and is one way corporations can take an environmental stand and offset carbon emissions that are inevitable when travel and events take place.

If you are interested in learning more about carbon offsets for corporate travel and event planning, there are several websites dedicated to educating the public and offering offsets. Websites like carbonfund.org have carbon calculators for travel, business events and conferences, weddings and other activities, making it simple to help your clients estimate the amount of carbon their event or transportation will create. This allows them to determine the amount of offsetting they would like to undertake – if any – to mitigate the carbon emissions associated with their business meeting or corporate travel.

The bottom line is that offering carbon offsets for corporate travel and events is a simple way to expand the services you offer to corporate clients. Those who are interested in offsets will appreciate the convenience, while those who are not interested can simply not take part in that particular service. To find carbon offset sellers, visit Ecobusinesslinks.com, which has a list of non-profit organizations and for-profit companies offering carbon offsets.

Although we all have secret answers for where we would like to send some of them, if it involves our jobs as travel planners we want to do our best. Regardless of our own politics, we often have to send someone to a tropical island resort when we would rather send them where there is plenty of brimstone. Ah, well.

So where are the best destinations for politicians? Chances are that if you have been in government travel planning for awhile you already have some favorites picked out. However, if you’re just starting out in government or non-profit event planning and have been asked to plan a politician’s trip, there are some things to consider.

First, what does the group want the politician to see? Would it be better for the person to witness the downtrodden side of the destination, or would the organization prefer that she see the beautiful sights in the area? This may depend on for what reason the organization is having her travel.

Second, what do they want the politician to do while he is there? If they need a great deal of his time, they may want him close by. If they just want him to have a more relaxing trip, perhaps an outlying suburb with golf courses–and plenty of contact with the right people–is in order.

Of course, there are other considerations as well. For instance, how long will the person be staying? What else would she like to get done while she’s there? What sort of transportation and security will be required? All those things will have a bearing on how you approach a destination for politicians.

Planning a business event can be hard for anyone. You may find that the task is just too big for just one person, this is why most people will have a team or assistants to help them with all the little details. There are a lot of things that you need to look out for when planning your event, but if you take the time to plan your corporate travel event, you should be fine.

The first thing that you need to avoid when planning an event off-site is not to get overwhelmed. You don’t want to get overwhelmed because it will only make things worst. Not only will you have a bad meeting, but you will also be fluttered and frustrated into doing things that you shouldn’t. You need to gain control over the event instead of letting the event gain control over you. You need to make sure that that everything is okay one piece at a time. For instance, one day you should take care of the decorations and the next day deal with the venders. This way you aren’t taking on too much at once. You may also hire an assistant to help you or you may find that things can get too much. If you are having a very important event, you should always have a team to help you so that you can find ways to quickly solve those last minute blunders. Continue reading »