Incentive - April 2009 - (Page 40)
TRAVEL CRUISES Value Ahoy! No prying eyes of the media, many choices and no budget surprises make incentive cruising a particularly good choice this year By Kinley Levack ruises offer a few distinct advantages in reward travel. Itineraries often include several different destinations to sample, attendees definitely can’t wander off property, and concerns about privacy from the media are greatly diminished. This year the easy-to-budget cruise option is even more popular for incentive groups, say cruising consultants, thanks to the economic recession. “What are you going to cut back on to stay under budget? It’s often food, activities, lighting—there is no charge for any of those things with a cruise program,” explains Jo Kling, president of Coral Gables, Fla.-based cruise event specialist, Landry & Kling. “There’s no need for decor, tablecloths or anything that turns a naked ballroom into an environment. You don’t need to rent AV, ship things around or pay for entertainment. “Sometimes it’s hard to quantify the cost savings,” Kling admits, but says that it’s within the realm of possibility for a group with 200 people to save nearly $100,000 by going on a four-night cruise to the Bahamas instead of visiting a four-star resort for the same amount of time. Joyce Landry, CEO of Landry & Kling, points out privacy from the media as an additional advantage that a cruise ship has over a resort—particularly valuable in this post-AIG period when the press is eager to report any corporate trips. “Anyone can walk through a hotel lobby and see the reader board with the company’s name on it,” says Landry. “But on a cruise ship, there’s no reader board and if C you’re not authorized, you can’t even get on the ship.” Or even better, she says, a company can charter a full ship so that only the incentive winners, customers and those the company approves can be on the ship, making the chances of any “gotcha” photojournalism quite slim. Both interest levels and satisfaction rates are high for cruises. According to the Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) 2008 Cruise Market Profile Study released in June, 94.8 percent of all cruisers rate their experience as satisfying with 44 percent rating it extremely satisfying; in the survey, 77 percent of past cruisers and 55 percent of people who have not taken a cruise expressed interest in doing so within the next three years. And cruises are no longer enjoyed solely by the geriatric set— the average age of cruise passengers has dropped three years since 2006. That said, only 17 percent of the U.S. population has ever been on a cruise, so it can be an ideal way to take a group on a unique and unexpected adventure. “The cruise industry has really spread geographically around the perimeter of the country, so you’ve got a lot of drive-to ports now,” says Jennifer Beam Johnson, a planner with The Johnson Meetings Group in Raleigh, N.C., who spent five years working for a cruise line. Kling notes that this provides great opportunities, “particularly for regional groups who have probably gone to all of the delightful regional destinations; it’s nice to mix it up. “You can do so many things in the cheap thrills category,” she adds, and suggests print- Cruise ships offer the amenities and facitilies of resorts with many budget-friendly benefits ing an invitation in your group’s colors and having people dress in those colors, which makes for a festive environment with a minimal cost. Many groups choose to have attendees pay their own way for shore excursions—particularly because participants are as likely to want to wander the town or lie on the beach as to take expensive excursions. Planners should look at shoulder seasons for great deals, says Johnson, especially in the summer months. Sure, it’s hot, but “a lot of days in port are beach days, and we have the humidity [in North Carolina] that they have [in the Caribbean], but don’t have the cross-island breezes.” If planners are looking to head farther away, while the cost can be high for European hotels, coordinating a European cruise for a group is done in U.S. dollars, and nails down prices up to a few years out, which gives planners additional control over their budget, regardless of what the market may do. ■ To read a Q&A with Holland America’s Carol Berwager, manager of charter and incentive sales, visit INCENTIVEMAG.COM/ HOLLANDAMERICA 40 | Incentive | April 2009 | incentivemag.com
http://www.INCENTIVEMAG.COM/hollandamerica
http://www.INCENTIVEMAG.COM/hollandamerica
http://www.incentivemag.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - April 2009
Incentive - April 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note: Speak Out!
Headlines
Cover Story: Penn Mutual Stands By Its Incentives
Defending Incentives
Primer: Merchandise 101
Employee Contracts Work
Gift Card Roundtable
Incentive Strategies
Endo Pharmaceuticals
Travel News: Where To Go
Caribbean: Idyllic Deals
Cruises: Value Ahoy!
Potentials: Here and Now
Cameras: Smart and Active
Merchandise IQ Survey
Incentive Merchandise Buyer’s Guide
Incentive - April 2009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_201004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_201003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_20100102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200909
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200907
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200906
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200905
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200902
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200901
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200812
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200811
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200810
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/incentive_200712
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com