Meetings at sea are all the rage, and it is easy to see why. Meetings at sea have all the luxuries and necessities needed to conduct business meetings, but they are so much more. Just what do meetings at sea have to offer businesses and organizations that have traditionally used hotels and conference centers? How about:

• Where else can you and your guests be so pampered without spending a fortune? Cruise lines are famous for their incredible customer service, attentive staffs, and affordable prices. Trying to replicate this trio of factors on land is nearly impossible.
• These meetings really go places! Meetings on land are at a virtual standstill compared to meetings being held at sea. Meetings at sea take the entire show on the road, hitting multiple destinations and are jam packed with optional events that can be tailored to suit the needs of any particular customer.
• Meetings at sea offer a unique environment that gets the creative juices flowing. Sometimes it just takes shaking things up a bit to get the creative juices flowing again. Keeping those creative juices flowing is what makes business happen in the modern era, when thinking outside the box is important. In this case, the box happens to be a hotel built on solid ground.

Cruises have always had an air of luxury of extravagance, dating back to when the first cruise lines began to offer elegant vacation options, rather than simply providing seafaring voyages for transportation purposes. While most people still consider a cruise a luxury experience, present day cruises are actually quite cost-effective and convenient for incentive travel packages, meetings at sea, conferences and trade shows, and other corporate events.

Aside from the cost savings and easy of planning that cruises provide, here are ten additional advantages of choosing a cruise for your next event or travel award:

1. Cruises offer personalized, attentive service, which enhances participants’ experience.
2. Cruises offer inclusive packages that assist planners in sticking to the defined travel budget.
3. Cruises provide a fulfilling, exciting travel experience for employees at a variety of income levels.
4. This exciting travel option is highly motivating for staff and encourages increased performance.
5. The self-contained environment makes event planning easy and convenient.
6. Planners can offer their participants multiple destinations with no additional effort.
7. Sharing an exciting travel experience is ideal for teambuilding.
8. Cruises offer all of the luxuries of resort hotels with the added value of foreign destinations.
9. Entertainment options abound, providing participants with plenty of activity options that the planner does not have to organize.
10. A contained environment ensures that more attendees will show up to onboard meetings and events.

Like any other business, spas have been hit by financial concerns. They have responded by lowering prices, offering half-time treatments, and better deals for groups. All these actions benefit you, the business meeting planner, in lots of different ways.

Booking Groups

Spas have lost a lot of their group business. Meetings have been canceled or rebooked on the internet and luxuries have been cut. Public perception has interfered in spa bookings as well–what blue collar worker wants to bust her tail all day for a failing company while her CEO is very busy being surrounded by candles, small fountains, and new age music as he gets a massage?

This makes it a perfect time to use spa visits as part of your business incentive travel packages. Prices are down and availability is high. Read the rest of this entry »