There are several things that must be taken into consideration when traveling with a group: hotel, restaurants, meeting rooms, equipment, activities, entertainment, and many, many other assorted details. Planning group travel can quickly become a nightmare as costs begin to stack up and overwhelm many companies meager travel budgets. Making cuts to save money on trips such as these will result in less than stellar trip reviews from those in the group. This has the potential to damage employee morale and negatively effect productivity. Instead of planning an expensive trip on land, companies and organization should consider taking their group on an incentive cruise to the Bahamas.

With land travel, every aspect of the trip has to be planned on an individual basis. The hotel may not have a restaurant or have only one dining option. A separate meeting room may have to be secured, and all of the equipment needed may not be provided by the meeting facility. When the meeting is over, employees may not know where to find local entertainment or activities they would enjoy. Furthermore, employees have no real incentive to build camaraderie or spend time with one another outside of schedule meetings. Finding transportation for the group from the hotel to restaurants, activities, and meeting spaces can also be difficult.

Now consider a cruise. A cruise can be all inclusive, and meeting planners can customize the cruise to meet the needs of their clients. Compared to land travel, a customized cruise can save companies up to 40 percent. This is because meals, meeting rooms, equipment, activities, entertainment, and many other services are inclusive of the cruise fare. This means that taking a group cruise to the Bahamas can be less expensive than planning a trip on land. In addition, the Bahamas is a tropical, exotic destination that will be seen as exciting and adventurous. Because everything is included in a cruise, employees can band together and participate in activities as a group. This helps to build solidarity and cohesion among the company's top performers and management.

Taking a group on a cruise to the Bahamas is definitely more feasible that most companies realize. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on hotels and expensive restaurants, save money and book a custom cruise. A cruise to the Bahamas will be memorable, and it will give new employees an incentive to work harder and achieve greatness. Incentive travel programs are integral to the success of a company and retention of top talent. Incentive travel program such as a group cruise to the Bahamas is an excellent to draw top talent to a company, inspire success, and give the organization a distinct edge.

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.

By its very nature, incentive travel should have an air of luxury and absolutely must be enticing in order for it to function as an incentive. It simply cannot be a run-of-the-mill trip that the potential participants could easily throw together themselves. Incentive travel packages must be memorable, meaningful, perfectly planned and expertly executed.
That being said, incentive travel planners are under increasing pressure to cut costs and deliver travel packages that fit into new, reduced travel budgets. As they struggle to meet the demands of their supervisors or client companies, while staying within budget, incentive travel planners are now constantly looking for ways to lower travel expenses. The trick is to find ways to cut costs without cutting corners.

Here are some ways that travel planners are adapting to the changes that have come with this economic downturn:

1. Opting for all-inclusive incentive cruise
2. Choosing lower-cost domestic and international destinations
3. Opting for lower-cost food, beverage and hotel choices
4. Planning more free time into the travel schedule, as opposed to offering multiple planned activities
5. Reducing the number and cost of pillow gifts, or cutting them out completely

When determining the best way for you to cut costs without cutting corners, keep in mind that a lower-cost destination choice coupled with upscale pillow gifts and luxury amenities will deliver a more memorable, enjoyable trip, as compared to opting for a stripped down travel package at a high-end destination.

According to a new  research study conducted by Oxford Economic, for every dollar invested in business travel, businesses experience an average $12.50 in increased revenue and $3.80 in new profits.

Face-to-face meetings and incentive awards to top performers seem to improve the bottom line.

While many companies have cut travel budgets, this study may help change the minds of the decision makers.