Articles
The Simplest Way to Plan a Business Event Abroad
by Jorge Enrique A. Writer, teacher, translator and online marketer Many businesses think about hosting an event once or a few times a year. The company's anniversary and the year-end celebration are two of the most popular motivations to plan an event in the corporate world.It is no secret either that most of the times these events are carried out in the usual places —a venue near the company's headquarters or a restaurant nearby, for example. Planning events in close locations is usually considered both inexpensive and easy. It is the safest bet. Those events have a disadvantage, though: they are often considered dull and unexciting by attendants. It is hard to avoid feeling they are receiving "more of the same" when you keep planning your events the same way year after year. Sometimes they do not even show up to the party.
There is a more exciting alternative, and it is to plan the event abroad. Many event planning professionals overlook it because they think that planning an event abroad will be hard and way more expensive. Managers often decline the idea for the same reasons.
But what if I told you that planning events abroad is not as complex as you think? What if the event abroad could cost just slightly more, and be totally worth the extra expenditure? In this article, I want to invite you to explore this alternative with me.
Pros and Cons of Hosting Your Event in a Different Country
The main pro of hosting a corporate event abroad is the "wow factor". There is a huge difference between telling your employees that the event will be held in the usual venue and telling them it is going to be held during a wonderful corporate trip to, say, Punta Cana. Just imagine them saying, "Excuse me, did you just say Punta Cana!?" while they open their eyes in awe and you will start loving the idea.
The second (and huge) pro is the automatic balancing of costs. Hosting an event abroad might seem more expensive, but despite the higher cost of transportation (read airline tickets) is automatically counterbalanced with the reduced cost everything else: hiring a venue, food and beverages, decoration, entertainment and all the bells and whistles a business event requires are cheaper abroad. Add to this that you can supplement the event trip with team-building activities, group tours, corporate social responsibility actions, and all the extra activities you may enjoy together during such trip. Will the bill matter as much if you compare it to all that you are getting in exchange?
The third pro is the motivation boost your staff will receive from the trip announcement to the very day of the event. I cannot make promises about productivity, but rest assured they are not going to want to miss that!
The main cons of planning an event abroad, on the other hand, is the fact your guests may need to get their passport in order to be able to travel with you. You are not resonsible for that, so you will agree with me that is not a big deal. Just let them know with reasonable time in advance about the trip so they can take care of any procedures with regard to getting or renewing their passport, and getting their entry requirements (visa, travel insurance, vaccinations or others) in order. All that part is up to them.
What Locations are Most Suitable for an Event Abroad?
The best locations are those in which your employees will not need a visa to travel. This varies much depending on which country you live in, so I cannot get into details. You will need to review each country's visa and entry requirements before making a decision. Still, you must know that the most popular destinations are those countries that have a heavy tourism industry such as Mexico or Dominican Republic, as countries with heavy tourism usually have fewer entry requirements.
There are two more things to keep in mind before deciding a destination. One is what the weather is like around the dates in which you are planning to host your event (to avoid rainy season, among others), and the other is the cultural features you may want to include in your corporate trip. If you are all-in for fun during the experience, almost any country will do; but if you are more interested in a country with a higher cultural offer, options will narrow a little.
What about planning an international event easily, as I promised in the title of this article? The easiest way is to just delegate most of the planning to a destination management company. Allow me to elaborate:
Introducing Destination Management Companies
Around the world, there are many tourism companies that specialized in helping companies plan and run a corporate event in their area. They are collectively known as destination management companies. DMCs save time and help plan memorable events because they already count on the experience, know-how, contact network and expertise to be your event planner in the destination you chose. Hiring a destination management company reduces the workload of your event planning because you just give them all the work.
Let's retake my previous example, and imagine we are going to plan an event in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. If you were to plan such an event yourself, you would need to travel to that city, start looking for venues and suppliers and a very long list of other tasks, including arranging transportation and accommodations for your guests. How many hours or days would that take? A lot.
If, instead, you hired this well-known destination management company in Punta Cana, then your planning tasks would reduce to one: to coordinate with them. As your local event planning partner, they would organize everything for you, from welcoming you at the airport to the farewell. Competent destination management companies also assist their clients with customs (for temporary import of goods such as souveniers) and other legal obligations.
What to look for in a DMC these days? Mainly three things: One is experience. If you are going to trust your event planning to a third-party, it should at the very least be knowledgeable about what they are doing. Ask your potential DMC supplier about its experience. It is crucial to get excellent results. Number two would be its certifications. The event planning business has advanced much over the last few decades, and it is easier to find certified meetings and event planners than before. Number three would be its environmental policies. For some event planners "any will do", but these are times in which you can easily make some changes and achieve a very environment-friendly event, sometimes even carbon-neutral. This can later be used to enhance your company's reputation in press releases or other public relations purposes.
To wrap it up, destination management companies are the simplest way to plan a business event abroad, and they are something you should consider hiring next time you are thinking about hosting a meeting, convention or event in a distant destination.
Sponsor Ads
About Jorge Enrique A. 
Writer, teacher, translator and online marketer
17 connections, 0 recommendations, 59 honor points.Joined APSense since, October 12th, 2021, From Lima, Peru.
Created on Jun 7th 2022 19:35. Viewed 233 times.
The company's popular motivations in the corporate world events. At the company's headquarters or a restaurant. Celebrations are the most popular. Reson to plan a business event. in press releases,
Event planning also assists their clients to organize everything for you, from welcoming you at the airport to the farewell. all-in for fun during the experience, almost any country will do.
With Destination Management Companies. There are two more things to keep in mind if you are more interested in a country with a higher cultural offer, options will narrow a little. One thing to keep in mind is what the weather is like around the dates on which you are planning to host your event.
The most popular travel destinations are those countries that have a heavy tourism industry. the fact your guests may need to get their passports in order to be able to travel. Just let them know a reasonable time in advance about the trip so they can take care of any procedures with regard to getting their passport, and getting their entry requirements (visa, travel insurance, vaccinations,) in order. All that part is up to them.
Dec 28th 2022 07:11