Corporate Travel Destinations

Cruises are unique corporate destinations for a number of reasons, but one of the least considered reasons would be the fact that the trip really is the destination. Consider how much time busy businesspeople waste every year traveling all around the world in order to get to Conference A or Seminar B. Now take that time and multiply it by an executive salary, add in hotel and travel fees from multiple companies and the number quickly balloons in the billions or trillions of dollars.

Consider the difference that cruise meetings have ot offer to the bottom line:

• The amount of time that expensive business people spend on cruises tends to be more productive than time spent on aircraft and/or airports.
• Most cruises feature multiple ports of call, which makes flights shorter and less airline/airplane transfers likely.
• Businesspeople also get to recharge their mental and social batteries while on cruises, and that alone is difficult to put a price tag on. It certainly beats allowing high-powered individuals to take time off and spend time on the golf course.
• The fact that the method of travel is actually a destination in and of itself means that more work and more relaxation can be enjoyed.
• By getting more services from a single vendor, in this case the cruise line, it is possible to save lots of money.

While organizing an meeting at sea for your next corporate travel destination, you may choose to take into consideration the prospect of including a stop on a private island as part of your tour. Some cruise lines now offer ports of call to private islands, usually in the Caribbean, as a portion of their cruise itinerary. Despite the fact that the cost of food, beverages, water sports equipment and other items will generally always cost more on a private island than they would at a conventional stop for an onshore excursion while in port, there are many good advantages to selecting cruise lines that include destinations at private islands.

Private islands may at times be populated with other vacationers, but they are not full with con artists or pickpockets, as are some public beaches, which delivers a more enjoyable setting for your attendees. Security is always there to safeguard that visitors will have no qualms about being mugged or having their belongings taken if they turn their backs, and your attendees can rest assured that the beaches will be impeccably clean and always pristine. Banana boat rides, scuba diving, snorkeling, massage and spa services, beverage bars and cafes are common features on private islands, making them an excellent pick for day-long beach entertainment, and possibly even organized events, depending on what type of agreement you can negotiate with the cruise company.

A cruise meeting is one of the most excellent ideas if you really want to motivate employees. Your meeting attendees will never forget the delight of stopping at several alluring destinations and just unpacking one time. Additionally to increasing attendance, incentives like an all inclusive incentive cruise will be much easier on the incentive travel budget, too.

Cruise meetings can save up to 40 percent over a land-based hotel venue, and extend fabulous onboard facilities and dining choices. Also, cruise ships are now being designed with meetings in mind, e.G. Dedicated meeting facilities, cutting-edge technology, flexible public spaces and roomy theaters that can often accommodate as many as 1,600 people. With most cruise lines, conference space and A/V equipment are complimentary, and the dedicated meeting facilities extend groups more privacy and technology.

Venues like a cruise ship's fabulous show lounges, comedy clubs, and culinary centers can stimulate creative thinking and team building. And there is no shortage of fun activities and challenging sports facilities for your incentive group to take part in between meetings, offering tons of motivational appeal (and bragging rights) for event participants of every age.

An all inclusive incentive cruise can save you up to 40% compared to hotel venues since so much is included. Meals, meeting rooms, A/V, coffee breaks, activities, entertainment and even room service are part of the all-inclusive cruise fare.

While organizing an meeting at sea for your next corporate travel destination, you may choose to take into consideration the prospect of including a stop on a private island as part of your tour. Some cruise lines now offer ports of call to private islands, usually in the Caribbean, as a portion of their cruise itinerary. Despite the fact that the cost of food, beverages, water sports equipment and other items will generally always cost more on a private island than they would at a conventional stop for an onshore excursion while in port, there are many good advantages to selecting cruise lines that include destinations at private islands.

Private islands may at times be populated with other vacationers, but they are not full with con artists or pickpockets, as are some public beaches, which delivers a more enjoyable setting for your attendees. Security is always there to safeguard that visitors will have no qualms about being mugged or having their belongings taken if they turn their backs, and your attendees can rest assured that the beaches will be impeccably clean and always pristine. Banana boat rides, scuba diving, snorkeling, massage and spa services, beverage bars and cafes are common features on private islands, making them an excellent pick for day-long beach entertainment, and possibly even organized events, depending on what type of agreement you can negotiate with the cruise company.

A cruise meeting is one of the most excellent ideas if you really want to motivate employees. Your meeting attendees will never forget the delight of stopping at several alluring destinations and just unpacking one time. Additionally to increasing attendance, incentives like an all inclusive incentive cruise will be much easier on the incentive travel budget, too.

Cruise meetings can save up to 40 percent over a land-based hotel venue, and extend fabulous onboard facilities and dining choices. Also, cruise ships are now being designed with meetings in mind, e.G. Dedicated meeting facilities, cutting-edge technology, flexible public spaces and roomy theaters that can often accommodate as many as 1,600 people. With most cruise lines, conference space and A/V equipment are complimentary, and the dedicated meeting facilities extend groups more privacy and technology.

Venues like a cruise ship's fabulous show lounges, comedy clubs, and culinary centers can stimulate creative thinking and team building. And there is no shortage of fun activities and challenging sports facilities for your incentive group to take part in between meetings, offering tons of motivational appeal (and bragging rights) for event participants of every age.

An all inclusive incentive cruise can save you up to 40% compared to hotel venues since so much is included. Meals, meeting rooms, A/V, coffee breaks, activities, entertainment and even room service are part of the all-inclusive cruise fare.

There is a misconception among some segments of the corporate meeting and incentive travel industry that cruises are an extravagantly expensive option for corporate meetings and travel. On the contrary, opting to plan your next corporate meeting onboard a cruise ship can be quite cost-effective and can result in significant cost savings when compared to corporate meeting destinations that are land-based. This is particularly true when travel and event planners take advantage of enticing packages available when planning meetings with multiple attendees. The cost savings can be even greater if most of the attendees live near a port or cruise terminal, avoiding the need for air travel.

The idea of attending a corporate meeting at sea event is also much more exciting and appealing to attendees, which results in them actually looking forward to the trip, rather than dreading yet another event where they spend hours locked in a boring meeting room in Omaha or Kansas City. Onboard activities and entertainment are an excellent way to wind down after a long day of meetings, and offer plenty of options for days off. Stopping in interesting ports of call also adds appeal to shipboard corporate travel, and allows attendees to spend time enjoying attractions, dining, entertainment and shopping off the ship as well.

Plan your next corporate meeting on a cruise ship and you will find that attendees will be happier and more productive as they enjoy the opportunity to both work and play onboard.

Incentive travel planners who work with corporate groups are faced with clients who just don’t have a large budget to spend, these days. Smaller businesses are trying to cut out luxuries with the hope that no one will say anything, and larger companies–especially those who accepted bailout money–are trying to regain an image of competence and frugality. Incentive travel is a scary proposition for them both.

Enter the incentive cruise. These are often much more affordable choices for people who love to travel in general, and could be your answer to the problem of affordable incentive travel. Why? Because cruises are relaxing, cruise lines have expanded their ports of call, and a cruise is typically all inclusive.  A cruise can save you as much as 40% compared to a land based hotel venue because almost everything is included. Meals, meeting rooms, A/V, coffee breaks, activities, entertainment and even room service are part of the all-inclusive cruise fare. You spend nothing more for linens, florals, lighting, labor or state/city taxes, which saves your client money and gives you time to devote to your business agenda and attendees.

You may also save yourself some headaches other than financial ones. If you have a small incentive travel group that is from a foreign culture, you might consider a cruise that will appeal to that culture. For instance, let’s pretend Irish music and culture has become all the rage in Eastern Europe. You have been hired to find a cruise for a group of Eastern European business people. Your logical choice will include Ireland, and expand to the other British Isles if there is time just for a bonus.

Cruises can, indeed, be a port in this financial storm the world is in right now. Next time you are trying to find an affordable incentive travel program, take a few minutes and check the cruise lines.  The best place to start is Seasite.com – The Online Cruise Meeting Marketplace

Seasite.com makes it easy to plan an all inclusive incentive cruise.

• One Site – All Cruise Brands
• Puts Cruise Sourcing on Par with Hotel Site Selection
• E-RFP Streamlines the Entire Process
• 24/7 Access to Global Cruise Opportunities for Groups
• Pricing is the Same as Buying Direct
• Impartial and Objective

If you are planning a business incentive travel package, make it easy for yourself and delight your attendees when you go to Seasite.com and start sourcing an incentive cruise package.

If you positioned 41 double-decker London buses back to back, you’d have an idea of just how long the Queen Mary 2 luxury liner is. Impressive as this is, size isn’t all the Queen Mary 2 has going for her. Three fourths of her rooms include private balconies and suites come in a wide range of comfort and price. The cozy Princess suites may be ideal for your clients; or they may prefer the ultimate luxury of the ship’s deluxe apartments.

Chilled champagne and sugar iced strawberries set the stage in the sumptuous quarters known as the Queens Grill Suites. Your client will have his every need met and catered to by the personal butler service. Travelers can make use of one of five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, and fifteen restaurants. The planetarium onboard doubles as a movie theater, offering guests their choice of stars – ones created in the heavens or ones created in Hollywood.

The Queen Mary 2 is a tribute to a more genteel golden age of ocean travel. Her ports of call include New York, Cherbourg, and Barbados. This beautiful ocean liner is the perfect setting for high-powered meetings, luxury vacations, or incentive travel.

Want to plan a cruise meeting event?  Meetings at sea are a great motivational incentive for employees.  Meetings and incentives held at sea, verses traditional land-based programs, can reduce costs by 25-40%. But for those unfamiliar with staging events on board cruise ships, the process can be intimidating. With the debut of Seasite.com, the first and only web portal dedicated solely to serving the cruise meetings market, planners will find what was once labor intensive, is now quick, simple and accessible all in one place.

The first and only comprehensive online marketplace for planning cruise meetings and events, Seasite is a revolutionary approach to ship selection and onboard event planning.  Try it today!