Cruises: Saving Without Sacrificing January 02, 2009
By Harriet Edleson
With the dollar still well below par with the euro and the British pound, planning a European incentive challenges even the most experienced incentive buyers. Especially in a weak economy, in which corporate buyers must know the bottom line well in advance. One of the simplest ways to ensure you have no exchange rate surprises is to arrange to pay in dollars. And one of the easiest ways to do that, in Europe, is to book a cruise.
Cruises, by their nature, are all-inclusive or nearly so, and are paid for in U.S. dollars.
This year Dayle Russell, senior manager, special events for Ricoh Corp., based in West Caldwell, N.J., got around the thorny exchange rate question by bringing her 60 qualifiers and their guests on a six-night African adventure split between Cape Town and safari lodges, rather than using a more traditional European destination.
Yet, planning for 2009, Russell found a way to return to Europe in October. The challenge was how to "do it cost-effectively," she says. The solution was to charter Windstar's Wind Spirit, a motorized sailing ship that carries 148 passengers in 74 cabins. She estimates the price per person to be $500 to $600 per day, all paid in dollars, plus air and shore excursions. The seven-night itinerary includes Lisbon, Portugal; Malaga and Valencia, Spain; and Gibraltar. "Our industry [document systems like copiers and printers] is very competitive. You've got to have a good trip."
Corporate incentive planners would do well to consider these options when developing incentive trips through 2011.
"You can go to Europe and be paying in U.S. dollars," says Jo Kling, a partner with Landry & Kling Cruise Event Services, based in Coral Gables, Fla. "Once a contract is signed, there are no rate increases, except fuel surcharges."
Landry & Kling has planned a range of customized incentive trips using high-end cruise lines such as Crystal, Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, SeaDream and Windstar. The all-inclusive cost can range from $484 to $651 per person per day. Trips arranged on more mass-market cruise ships generally cost less. Since incentive trips tend to be booked a year or more in advance, you can lock in the price for 2011, says Kling. A higher-priced option is SeaDream, a 55-cabin, 344-foot yacht that can be chartered for four- to seven-night incentives from SeaDream Yacht Club Luxury Cruises. Transactions for the North American market are in U.S. dollars.
"There's not even a cash register on board," says Miami-based Bruce Setloff, one of its owners. Expect to pay from $500 to $900 per person per day plus air, with the variable being fuel, which could make pricing as much as 15 percent higher. Be prepared to spend $600,000 to charter the yacht for a week, plus air.
Other lines that focus on the incentive market include Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Cunard Line.
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U.S. Travel Association Forms Meetings, Incentives, Trade Show Council The U.S. Travel Association has created a new board member council that will build a proactive meetings and incentives research, communications, government relations and promotion agenda, it announced yesterday.
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