Corporate Travel Destinations

One of the best aspects of cruise meeting planning is that most cruise liners have in-house planners and a complete staff to take care of virtually every possible need and/or want. The result is that anyone handling cruise meeting planning can be as thorough and detailed as they like, or they can go the other route and allow the in-house planners and staff to take over some of the burden. Here are a few examples to consider when determining how much effort to put into cruise meeting planning:

Most cruise ships have at least one chef, many now have upwards of five, and full catering staffs on call. This means that catering options are already available right out of the box, and amount of time and energy you spend planning meals and parties is up to you.

Virtually all cruise ships have activities directors, and many cruise ships reserve space upon request for group activities. If you need space for a meeting, or just a private social gathering, all you have to do is ask. The question is: where do you stop asking? The event/activity coordinator can probably handle a lot more than just setting aside a room if only they asked.

Save money and allocate resources more efficiently by determining which aspects of the meeting planning should be handled in-house and which can be well-executed by someone else.

Airport hotels almost always get a bad rap and, other than the convenience and close proximity to the airport, most travelers see little positive about staying in them. This is even truer when it comes to actually holding a conference, convention or corporate meeting in one. Ask most planners and they are sure to say that they and their clients would rather use a downtown property, and don’t even get them started about the noise from the planes flying overhead. However, it turns out that many airport hotels really do not deserve this reputation and recent full-scale renovations have many competing quite successfully with their downtown counterparts.

An excellent example of this is the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Mall of America, located just three miles from the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. This 300-room hotel has 22,000 square feet of space for events, including a 7,500-square-foot ballroom and nine meeting rooms. As an added bonus, the hotel is adjacent to a wildlife refuge, which offers excellent views from many of the rooms and meeting spaces and – perhaps most importantly – makes the entire area a no-fly zone. The wildlife refuge also has a 125-seat auditorium and 8,000 square feet of event space located in its visitor center, increasing the possibilities for planners that opt for this destination.

Ensuring that your meeting or event attendees, or incentive travel winners, have a satisfying, memorable experience during the corporate travel you have planned for them, involves much more than scheduling venues, renting equipment, booking a block of rooms and negotiating prices for airline tickets. Of course, you already know that your job entails much more than that, but many planners sometimes leave out a few details that can make all the difference when it comes to the experience your participants have.

This is particularly true if you are planning corporate travel for folks who may not travel frequently for business or in their personal lives, or who have not previously traveled to this destination. For example, turning them loose without any information about the area might be seen as okay by some, but planners who want to make sure every detail is taken care of and who want to be known for going above and beyond to meet their participants’ needs would never consider doing that. Gathering and distributing information about the destination does not have to take a lot of time and effort, and is sure to be seen as an appealing extra that your attendees will appreciate.

A simple list of attractions, eateries, transportation options and other types of useful information is sure to be greatly appreciated, and it will only take you a short time to find all of this information online.