30 Oct 09 More Cheap Seats, More Fees
Airlines will continue to discount tickets, charge more fees, cut capacity and look for other ways to raise cash to deal the the recession through the rest of this year and into next year, according to IATA in its global forecast.
IATA has again asked U.S. lawmakers and other governments to repeal laws and other restrictions that limit foreign investment in domestic airlines to enable the industry to compete as other industries do globally.
Consolidation, especially cross-border unions, and greater foreign investment would help many airlines save money. But the industry will need help from governments, too.
Tags: Cheap Airlines, Cheap Seats, Consolidation, Cross Border, Discount Tickets, Domestic Airlines, Foreign Investment, Governments, Iata, Lawmakers, Money, Recession, Unions
09 Oct 09 Combine an Incentive Reward Trip with a Conference
It’s no secret that business meetings are often a combination of business and pleasure. People are working harder than ever to keep companies solvent. Rewarding employees is a bit more complicated; they deserve a nice trip to an exotic location yet it’s important to keep up appearances to the public. Try combining events, the reward trip with a conference. A corporate cruise event can fill both those needs.
Sea travel is a great way to build team spirit while traveling to an exotic location. An incentive cruise makes an ideal place for a business meeting – after all, how far can your people wander off? Food is available almost 24/7 and there are numerous activities to break up the intensity of the conference. It’s also private and while there is much to do, there is great opportunity to focus solely on the matter at hand.
In addition, when you come into your port of destination, that’s when the fun begins. Everyone feels a sense of accomplishment by completing the demands of the conference and they are ready to cut loose and have a bit of fun. The company saves money because the mode of travel has absorbed part of the conference costs, including food and lodging.
Tags: Accomplishment, Bit Of Fun, Business And Pleasure, Business Meeting, Business Meetings, Business People, Corporate Cruise, Incentive Cruise, Incentive Reward, Intensity, Mode Of Travel, Money, Nice Trip, People Working, Rewarding Employees, Sea Travel, Team Spirit, Traveling
10 Sep 09 Doing Your Part for the Economy
It’s been said–and posted on meeting planner blogs all over the internet–that the economy paired with recent government regulations for bailout companies is creating big trouble for meeting planners. Business are canceling meetings and conferences all over the world, and the ones that are not being canceled are being scaled down almost to ineffective levels. What’s a meeting planner to do?
Step One: Help Your Clients
Instead of canceling, make suggestions on how they can change or postpone the meeting. Also support them. Meetings are not going to hurt companies. They help them, and you need to be vocal about this–not only to companies but to the public. Let everyone know that meetings bring in money to local economies, and they also help the company on many different levels.
Step Two: Be Proactive
Long before your clients cancel a meeting, call them and compliment them on their decisions to continue the meeting. Send them emails with evidence of how meetings help companies. Get them charts, graphs, and testimonials on why their plans are good and you may prevent a problem down the road.
Step Three: Show Results
After a meeting, help your client measure the ROI of each meeting. Help her see the change for the better, and if the results are stellar get the press involved. Write a press release about it, which will get your name in front of the public as well.
Tags: Bailout, Big Business, Big Trouble, Cancel, Conferences, Decisions, Government Regulations, Graphs, Internet Economy, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planners, Money, Press Release, Proactive, Roi, Testimonials
06 Aug 09 Fourth Quarter Play Strategies–Vacations
While this sounds like a chapter out of a football playbook, it sort of is and sort of isn’t. Like football, it describes the final chapter of an arbitrary time frame that we use to determine our actions and push for a winning game. However, it is being applied to our business in this blog. What are we going to do for the rest of a stressful year?
What We Do Best
As planners, what we do best is help others. Sure, it’s a business, but it’s one that can help others from losing their marbles trying to book their own events. What may change about that in the fourth quarter is that some of them may want to save money on events by planning some of it themselves. You can be prepared by having a short list of things that they can do that won’t be too difficult but can lop off at least a little bit of your bill. Consider this another service in your collection of offerings. (more…)
Tags: Arbitrary Time, Blog, Clientele, Exotic Travel, Financial Scene, Football Playbook, Fourth Quarter, Game, Hideaways, Little Bit, Marbles, Money, Offerings, Planners, Professional Life, Sounds, Time Frame, Travel Packages, Vacations
27 Jul 09 “Eh…So What?” – How to Counter Public Criticism for Meetings
This is the response that some companies are giving to the idea of public criticism for their meetings. So why aren’t their head honchos worried about business, and what people will think? Because they are more concerned about what their employees think.
Leaders Being Leaders
If the executives of companies that are doing poorly go ahead and change meeting plans to accommodate public scrutiny, it may be for the best. But what about companies that are doing well? What about the ones who didn’t need a single penny of help from the government and have actually flourished in these hard times?
All companies should not be judged with the same jaundiced eye the public has gotten over the last year. In fact, they should be praised–they held themselves to high standards and should be permitted to continue along their successful route with no interference. This includes meetings. (more…)
Tags: Business People, Conflict, Interference, Jaundiced Eye, Jobs, Money, Public Criticism, Public Scrutiny, Reputation, Send Message, Successful Company, White Flag
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