Corporate Travel Destinations

What make the International Centre in Toronto one of the best spots for international conferences? Many things, top among them is location.

Toronto is closer than you think, in fact, 60% of the United States population is a 90-minute plane ride away from this magnificent city. Major cities within this area include Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Washington, D.C.

The International Centre offers 48,000 square feet of conference space. It is possible to break this down into 15 rooms to accommodate several venues at one time. Parking is never a problem as they have space for 5,000 vehicles (although finding your car could be challenging). An onsite UPS store is available for copying and other business services. Wireless internet service is also available throughout the complex.

Team building is done in the Centre’s kitchen. Groups of eight to twenty can play Iron Chef in the state of the art kitchen. The exercise can be purely competition or instructional. Either way, the team that cooks together works together better in the boardroom.

The chef’s table is located in the kitchen giving conference attendees a behind the scenes view. Chef Joe Levesque presides over a team that serves up to 2,500 people at a time. Try matching that on the Iron Chef.

By the time your clients’ meeting participants sit themselves down on a plane, they have already been screened, asked questions and gotten suspicious looks by airport personnel (as all travelers do). They may have been rushed through a process designed to make them feel more secure, and maybe even had their belongings sifted through and shoved back into their bags willy nilly. At the gate they may have experienced more hold-ups, the flight might have been late, or may have experienced other delays and stresses. This is not your doing and not your problem, but you may be able to mitigate the effects.

Although participants will likely not associate those experiences with you, the meeting planner, they will remember you if you have provided a little comfort for them. To make the travel experience better for your clients’ members, consider making up travel packs to be delivered before the flight. Depending on the length of flight, include items that target a traveler’s basic needs–relaxation, rest, staying occupied, and a little energy. Here is a list of things to pick and choose from: Continue reading »