Corporate Travel Destinations

Two parties meeting often produces more than a little anxiety, especially when business is involved. Learning how to plan ice breakers into meetings is an art, and it is one that certain cultures have learned to excel at. Instead of spending a lot of time doing formal mixers and other events, consider the following:

• The Japanese prefer tea – Sitting down for a tea and discussing anything but business is a common traditional business practice amongst the Japanese, yet it is starting to fade away. One advantage of this is that it allows people to develop a rapport before they begin conducting formal business.
• The Scots sometimes meet over 9 or 18 holes – While it takes a little while to get to business, many business arrangements have actually been arranged on the back nine. The first few holes might be just pleasantries, but once those are over with the structure of the game takes over and business can be conducted with less pressure and a modicum of enjoyment.
• Meet at the gym, spa, or sauna – Some people prefer alternative meeting formats such as meeting side by side but not face to face on a pair of massage tables or at the gym in the spinning room. Sometimes a change of pace is just what it takes to start a new relationship off on the right foot.

Many companies and large corporations use cruise meetings effectively, but they closely guard some of their secrets. Here are three easy ways to get far more mileage out of a cruise:

1. Start by signing up for a corporate credit card with the cruise company if they have one. Most corporate credit cards in this class are surprisingly reasonable when it comes to fees and terms, and almost all of them yield useful travel-related rewards.
2. Plan ahead. Remember that a ship at sea is difficult and expensive to resupply so plan for banquets and other special events ahead of time and give the chef in charge of catering ample warning before leaving port. It may take a week or more to get good deals on vegetables or meats.
3. Note that it never hurts to ask, even when it comes to using public spaces. Want to host a meeting on the aft shuffleboard lobby? Ask! Want to book the spinning room or yoga center for a pre- or post-meeting event? Go for it! Want to host a meeting in the spinning room? That can almost certainly be arranged too if you ask in advance.

The sky really is the limit on a cruise ship when it comes to accommodating customers, especially corporate and business clients. Be sure to make requests in advance and you can be surprised how accommodating cruise liners and their staffs can be.