Meeting News - January 7, 2008 - (Page 42)

Incentive Insider: Florida continued from page 40 up to 18. The new yacht has full catering options and offers evening cruises, on which groups can watch the nightly ﬁreworks show at the Magic Kingdom. —Rowland Stiteler Incentive Report: Emerald Coast A Sure Thing for Insurance Group Sandestin Beach proves prime spot for laid-back program It was the combination of Northwest Florida’s multitude of good golf courses and its famous whitesand beaches along the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico that sold the Tennessee Farm Bureau Insurance Companies on bringing its sales incentive to the 600-room Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa last July—and again next July. “We have a lot of people who love golf and water sports, so it worked well,” said Ron Phillips, president and owner of Knoxville, TN-based All-Ways Travel Inc., which organized the program. “All the golf courses in the area were really great to work with. Because it wasn’t high season for golf, we were able to get some good prices, and they were very accommodating.” To demonstrate his point, Phillips explained how on the ﬁrst morning, the executives wanted to hold a business meeting and then begin the tournament at nearby Emerald Bay Golf Course.“Most courses require you start your tournament at 8 a.m., but it allowed us to begin at 10 a.m.” he said. “Then, it dedicated the course to us that day.” The four-night incentive for 885 attendees—400 winners and their families—was extended for many who took advantage of the pre- and post-event prices offered by the Hilton to create family vacations. The approach Tennessee Farm Bureau Insurance executives took for the incentive program was in keeping with the laid-back attitude of Florida’s Emerald Coast. Along with the golf tournament and one morning meeting, the only organized activities were breakfast each day, an afternoon of games on the beach, a deep-sea ﬁshing excursion, and the traditional dessert party on the ﬁnal night. “At key times, we brought people together, but for the most part we left them alone to enjoy the resort and the area,” said Phillips. —Heidi Waldrop Bay Soaking Up the Experience Florida spas are on hydrotherapy trend focusing on healing, detox, & wellness According to the experts at global spa resource SpaFinder, thermal and water spa experiences are something planners are going to see a lot more of this year. And, Florida spas are diving right into the trend, with new takes on the European spa tradition of using water as a healer and relaxer. When the 10,000-sf Guerlain Spa debuts this February at the new Regent Bal Harbour, in North Miami Beach, attendees will be able to soak in the healing effects of water in a customized wet therapy suite that offers ﬁve-senses hydrotherapy baths and continued on page 44 Luxury accommodations with 276 guestrooms and suites, 76,000 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting space including two state of the art amphitheatres, professional experienced confere n c e m anagem ent t eam , tu rn k ey in h ou s e c reat ive design, 18 hole championship Donald Ross Golf Course, 12,000 sq foot world class spa and fitness center, tennis courts, highly acclaimed and award winning dinning. Biltmore aw aits to plan your event or m eet ing Call us today (800) 456-1926, (305) 913-3100 sales @b iltmorehotel.com G O L F / S PA / T E N N I S / F I T N E S S / F I N E D I N I N G 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida 33134 1.800.727.1926 BiltmoreHotel.com 42 MeetingNews January 7, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.biltmorehotel.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - January 7, 2008

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