Flying can be a real hassle. Not only can flying be more trouble than it is worth, but it can also be very expensive. When businesses have to factor in the cost of round-trip airfare into their incentive travel budgets, they often find they have few resources available to plan exciting entertainment and dining options for travel participants. Because airfare often requires a large percentage of the travel budget, businesses are often faced with the task of making the remaining funds stretch as much as possible. When planning incentive travel, consider an incentive cruise as a reasonable, affordable, and thrilling option with no flying required.

While participants of an incentive cruise do have to get to port, a number of these ports are located within a five hour drive of many of the major cities. At least 50 percent of the population of the U.S. is within a 5 hour drive of a cruise ship's port. Since a ship charter can cost up to 40 percent less than a land venue, such as a hotel or resort, businesses will not have to worry about making their budgets stretch. Exciting incentive travel can be accomplished without having to pay for expensive airfare or deal with the headache of flying.

Planners everywhere have noticed hotel rates have taken a bit of a dive. But did you also know that it has made several of the upscale destinations affordable for clients who would normally book second-tier–or even less expensive–accommodations? It’s true. At least for the time being, locations that were previously off limits due to price are now more available than ever before.

Part of the problem, as you might imagine, is the economy. Companies have cancelled meetings, groups have put off conventions, and general travel is down across the globe. The other problem is the restriction placed on companies by the public eye. They do not want to seem like spendthrifts in the wake of the recent collapse of some of the business giants in the United States. Read the rest of this entry »