Corporate Travel Destinations

Corporate travel planners are well-versed in working with budgets and are pros at finding exceptional deals and negotiating their way into cost savings for their events. Now more than ever, saving money wherever possible is critically important, particularly as many small businesses and large corporations are facing shrinking budgets and closer public scrutiny. It can be a bit of a challenge to cut costs without cutting quality, but with a little time and effort it is completely doable.

One of the keys to successfully cutting costs without losing quality is properly determining which aspects of your event can weather some cutbacks without being significantly affected. Once you have determined which components can handle some cutbacks, the trick is to find ways to cut these costs that will not be noticeable to your attendees.

For example, you might opt for a lunch event, instead of a dinner event, or you might go with an off-brand digital camera, rather than a name brand camera for an incentive travel pillow gift. You can also opt for business class for flights, or bypass flying entirely and opt for train travel, or a bus charter if the event is close to home. Some planners have also found having servers pass appetizers, rather than having a buffet-style set up, provides significant savings, as folks tend to eat less when they are served in this manner.

The green meeting movement is in full swing and many companies are scrambling to make their meetings and corporate events as eco-friendly as possible. This can boost their public image, shows their commitment to limiting their impact on the environment and can make attendees feel good about the efforts being put forth; however, it can also mean higher pricing. In fact, the fear of significantly higher prices is one of the main reasons that other companies are not taking more steps to green their corporate meetings, events and travel. There is s a perception that going green automatically means doubling your event expenses and, while this certainly does not have to be the case, there are good reasons why some folks think this.

The problem is green gouging. Just like any new trend, there are some folks who see this as a way to make more money and are hiking up prices on organic or local food, sustainably-sourced products and other necessities for green events. Meeting and event planners should expect a slightly higher price on some environmentally-friendly items, which is completely justifiable; however, some venues are taking advantage of this opportunity to freely overcharge folks who care about their event’s impact.

Oftentimes, this can result from the fact they do not have the vendors to meet the needs of folks who need organic or locally-grown food and other essentials. This can be avoided by opting for venues that are just as committed to eco-friendly meetings as you are, and that already have established relationships with green vendors.