It's a well known fact that cruising for groups, meetings and incentives offers outstanding value with savings of up to 40 percent off land-based venues, but is it right for you? According to a recent report in Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine, 34 percent of their readers had booked a cruise for an incentive event and an astonishing 72 percent said they planned to book one – an unmistakable indication of where the industry is moving.
If you are planning a group cruise for your next incentive travel event, you may be considering whether chartering a ship would be a more appropriate option than booking reservations on a cruise containing unaffiliated passengers. It may or may not be, contingent on a number of issues.
Initially, it is valuable to understand your alternatives. When chartering a cruise ship, you frequently can pick between group, half-ship and full-ship charter options. Full ship charters clearly allow for the most freedom, customization, exclusivity and prestige, while group-level charters will probably be most economical.
All of these alternatives has pros and cons; but, they each present distinctive advantages for those event planners deciding if chartering a cruise ship is their top option.
In order for chartering a cruise ship for your next meeting at sea to be a good goal, you will need to have a definite number of attendees, a good idea of your event space requirements and the funds to make a significant financial commitment upfront, usually guaranteed by a letter of credit.
As soon as these things are in place, your next job is selecting the optimal cruise ship to fit your incentive event needs. This will need to include appropriately-sized meeting spaces, overall costs that are within your planning budget, a suitable itinerary and an overall quality that suits the level of service and prestige required by your meeting at sea client.
If you are planning a corporate incentive travel package, make it easy for yourself and delight your attendees when you go to Seasite.com start sourcing cruise event package.
The best incentive programs to motivate employees include rewards of money or travel. People love to win trips to destinations that are different from their own environment. Trips to exotic destinations such as an incentive cruise to interesting ports of call are among the most popular incentives, and tend to have the best ROI overall.
Seasite.com, the first online group cruise meeting planning portal, allows planners capitalize on the value of cruise meeting and incentives. Cruising can cut the cost of land based venues by as much as 25-40%, allowing planners to persevere with today’s shrinking budgets. Why not make your next corporate incentive event a meeting-at-sea ? Take a look at Seasite.com today!
Incentive travel planners are faced with clients who just don't have a large budget to spend, these days. Small businesses are cutting out unnecessary expenses with the hope that their employees will not notice, and larger corporations — especially those who accepted government bailout money — are trying to restore their image of competence and frugality. Incentive travel is a scary proposition for them both.
Think incentive cruise. Cruising is often a much more affordable choice 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 event 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.
Planners may also save yourselves some headaches other than financial related 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 on group cruise events.
You will be surprised at how easy it is to plan a meeting at sea, and stay within your budget.
Cruising can provide an excellent travel perspective to incentive winners. An incentive cruise offers a variety of ships from which to choose, and luxury amenities such as spas, gourmet dining and sports facilities, in addition to meeting rooms.
Planners will appreciate the pricing structure, as well. Cruise meetings typically offer a savings of as much as 40 percent over land based hotel venues, since everything is included in one price.
Incentive travel buyers may choose one of three cruising options:
All inclusive pricing allows incentive buyers to get more for their budget on sea than on land, thanks to the all inclusive aspect of cruising.
Seasite.com, the first online group cruise planning portal, allows planners capitalize on the value of cruise meetings and incentives. Cruising can slash the cost of land based venues by 25-40%, allowing planners to persevere with today’s shrinking budgets. Why not make your next corporate incentive event a meeting-at-sea ? Take a look at Seasite.com today!
Corporations are working on motivating their personnel through incentive reward programs. They appreciate the significance of incentive travel trips such as a cruise meeeting to improve the morale of their staff. Hitting the high seas for an adventure on a luxury cruise liner is becoming a well-liked corporate getaway.
Putting together a corporate event such as a conference or a business meeting at sea makes a lot of sense, especially when it comes to getting the greatest value from the investments.
Employee retention is a critical issue for corporations. Establishing a good rapport with your employees and keeping them happy is valuable for the continuous flow of business. Accordingly planning incentive travel rewards becomes a priority. An exciting cruise is guaranteed to keep your staff happy as nothing soothes, heals, and inspires like the sea.
The allure of the sea and the comforts of a luxury cruise ship are sure to motivate your valued employees.
An all-inclusive incentive cruise is a great choice for corporate events. A cruise offers the following advantages:
- An agreeable environment to bond and network with business associates – An exotic variety of dishes for you to relish – A completely unconventional and exciting ambiance on the move, filled with delightful surprises. – Having meetings on ships fosters camaraderie as most meetings, dining and social events take place on premises – Today?s ships offer meeting facilities and conference rooms that rival those of land-based resorts – Meeting and conference room facilities and AV equipment are usually included in the fare (as opposed to land-based programs, which usually charge extra) – With the increasing scrutiny from accounting departments or investors, many companies have been cutting back on their incentive programs at a time when morale is even more important, but a cruise program allows them to provide more value for much less.
A cruise can also be employed as a training venue for your employees who will definitely enjoy the exceptional setting. The days of strict education inside a training room are rapidly being replaced by inspired venues such as cruise ships, much to the delight of employees.
Cruise ships are well equipped when it comes to holding corporate events, satisfying the demands of the most stringent client. The best news is that these ships are easy on your budget, compared to other conventional conference venues.
Any employees who are accompanied by their families have less concern over what their spouses and children will be up to while they are in a meeting. A cruise ship provides a lot of entertainment to keep everyone busy and happy.
Another fantastic thing about a cruise is the chance to experience several destinations as you cruise along.
