Destination Events: Making Travel Easier
For your employees, destination events mean a chance to travel and an opportunity to explore a new city, probably for the first time. While this is understandably an exciting period, it is also a lot of responsibility. Booking hotel rooms, managing air fare, arranging airport pickups/dropoffs or sorting and logging receipts from travel expenses can take it’s toll. It takes a lot to ensure that all attendees have a fun-filled and stress-free traveling experience. Learn how to make the travel easier for destination events for both you and your employees.
Single & Group Air Travel Arrangements
The venue is booked. Speeches are being written. The notices go out. The summit, meeting or milestone party is just around the corner. Now it’s time to arrange flights for those coming from a long distance. For destination events that are optional, such as an anniversary party or your company Christmas party, it may be best to allow the guest(s) to arrange their own travel and lodging. However, if your goal is to ensure guests attend (such as a mandatory meeting or important summit) with control over the costs, arrangements can be made from a central location.
For those with groups of employees flying out from the same location, a group rate is the most logical and fiscally responsible method. Having large groups travel together lowers overhead throughout the entire traveling process and reduces carbon footprints (which is great for your corporate responsibility and bottom line). Even if your groups are flying in smaller batches, careful organization can bring them together at the airport with relatively same arrival times, allowing you to capitalize on group rates for airport pickup, hotel arrangements, and in-town travel.
A good destination management company (DMC) is skilled in this method of traveling for work. After all, DMCs have lots of experience coordinating travel for event planners, entertainers, and catering teams for events as well as for the guests. Making your quarterly statement, to-do list, and traveling attendees happy is the goal of our destination event managers!
Solutions
Over the years, Event Solutions has helped a lot of companies in handling their flight arrangements. We cater to high end traveling arrangements for corporate VIPs; like Presidents, Vice Presidents and CEOs of companies. We also handle group air travel to ensure that your guests arrive at the destination together and on time.
Using important data obtained directly from our custom digital RSVP, we are able to ensure that air travel arrangements are made from different locations, at various dates/times, to ensure their arrival to your destination event (and back home again).
Our custom digital RSVP and event webpages played a crucial role in air travel arrangements when we helped organized travel of 800 employees of East West Bank to attend an out-of-state meeting.
Single & Group Airport Pickups
The comfort of your employees upon arrival of the destination is a priority. There is nothing more comforting than knowing that there is someone waiting to welcome you upon your arrival in another city. Professionally printed welcome signage, warm (or air conditioned), roomy vehicle with a friendly chauffeur waiting to take heavy bags (and your guest) through the town relaxes a frazzled business traveler. This is especially important for any VIP attendees; as it gives them a chance to unwind and look forward to your event! Shuttle or limo, whatever airport pickup is arranged needs to be on time with a safe and friendly driver.
After all, your attendee’s experience does not happen in the vacuum of your venue!
Knowledge is power. Having a destination event manager that knows the local traffic patterns and weather prepares the traveler accordingly. From arranging an earlier flight to avoid rush hour to having umbrellas on hand, they make travel for a destination event easier for both you and your attendees.
Solutions
We don’t just plan destination events and make air travel arrangements, but also ensure that your attendees are comfortably transported from the airport to their hotels or to the venue upon arrival. To this end, we have partnered with reputable car rental and shuttle transportation service companies in major cities across the United States.
All types of vehicles can be arranged to pick up your attendees at the airport. For VIPs, such as CEOs, we can provide stretch limos, luxury SUVs, and sedan pickups. There are also fully air-conditioned charter buses available to pickup guests that arrive in groups.
To ensure that you beat the inherent traffic situation in large cities like Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco; our assigned event managers can coordinate both your air travel and airport pickup dates/times to coincide with a period when traffic is likely to be less hectic. Whether you’re hosting San Francisco team building events or a product launch in LA, we’ll handle it all.
You can be sure that airport pickups arranged by us will be on schedule. Event Solutions event managers also consider the likely weather conditions at the location of your destination event and offer their advice on preferred air travel/airport pickup dates and times.
When Inheritor Cell Technology (ICT), a company based in China, held the grand opening of its first location in the U.S, we were called upon to manage their destination event. As part of our services, we provided group airport pickups for guests from China as well as translation services for the event itself.
Managing Hotel Arrangements
Securing hotel reservation for a single individual or group in major destination locations like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas or New York can be tricky at times. That is one of the key factors in partnering with a destination management company over just a travel company. A DMC is part of the entire planning process, from start to finish. Whereas a travel company only manages the travel after the fact. An experienced destination manager will take in consideration other major events happening around your selected dates and account for them in the planning and booking process – carefully coordinating to avoid hotel blackouts, increased traffic and other complications from conflicting events.
They also are focused on the holistic experience, not just the travel or the event in and of itself. A good DMC can account for upgraded suites for VIP guests, additional communication in regards to travel/event, meal planning, and appropriate R&R from travel in regards to event start/end times. Even small details like welcome bags waiting in each room and arranging wake up calls are taken care of so your guests can have an enjoyable experience.
Solutions
We understand your need to have all your guests properly lodged in comfortable and convenient hotels while attending destination events. This is why our event managers work overtime to ensure that we do not only provide hotel bookings for all your attendees, but that the choice of hotels meet your budget, proximity to airport and event venue.
In addition, we cater for special hotel arrangements such as securing high-end luxury suites for VIPs. We will also factor-in the hotel check-in/check-out dates and times to coincide with the duration of your event. Your attendees will experience top-notch customer service at their designated hotels and truly feel like they are in a home away from home.
Transportation To & From The Venue
Another way to make your travel for a destination event a stress-free one is by arranging scheduled transportation to and from the event. Having a prearranged agreement with reliable town car or shuttle service companies is a step in the right direction. They know the best routes to take in order to avoid traffic and to get all attendees to the event venue on time. It is also more economical than dozens of individual rental cars and avoids anyone getting lost on the way!
Of course, you can avoid extra travel for your destination event by hosting it right at the hotel. Your DMC can help you find the right hotel that can accommodate both your lodging and your event needs (such as audio visual or catering).
Solutions
Our services do not end once your event has been planned and hotel rooms booked. We also arrange for transportation of your employees to and from the venue, if needed. Whatever your preferred form of transportation is, you can be sure that we can arrange it. We have a great relationship built over 30 years with professional shuttle, limo, and valet services in many popular destination cities across the United States.
In September of 2016, we were able to successfully plan, produce, and shuttle 2,600 employees to an “All-Hands” conference held at “The Shrine” in Los Angeles. Just last year, government dignitaries, heads of multinational corporations, and ambassadors fine tuned our VIP transportation services for the Weber Metals Press Unveiling. Other events like the International Economic Conference and Access Asia networking event required translation services as well as the coordination of travel for guests arriving from abroad. Experience breeds success.
Excursions
Visiting a new city can be a real thrill and for some, a once in a lifetime experience. While the destination event is the primary reason for the visit, it should not stop your guests and attendees from savoring the ambience of the city. Whether it’s visiting historic sites, experiencing the nightlife of the city, or dining at exclusive restaurants; it’s an opportunity for your guests to have some fun.
For most of your attendees , it’s not everyday they get to travel to other cities. It is therefore an opportunity for them to take advantage of the trip to experience the city in much the same way that a tourist or vacationer would. If your event and budget allows, plan for a little R&R to make your destination event an experience to remember. Basic excursions like a tour of the town (a popular option in Hollywood) to more elaborate like an after-party on a yacht or rooftop with a city view is just what a weary traveler needs before headed home.
If your event is being held in San Francisco, we can arrange for a group tour to exclusive locations like the infamous Alcatraz prison. We can also arrange for cocktail after-parties yachts at the Bay area around the San Francisco bridge. A tour of Hollywood in Los Angeles or Times Square in New York is always a pleasant experience and one that your guests would thoroughly enjoy. Every city has it’s own appeal and a number of alternative party venues to choose from.
Solutions
This is why we also produce exclusive excursions to give them that holistic and once in a lifetime experience.
Your trip does not have to limit your guests to the venue and their hotel rooms. We can arrange for local excursions for your staff and special guests to preoccupy their time away from the event. In the case of AltaMed’s employee conference meeting, we organized a live band event to help their employees unwind, socialize and be re-energized before the next series of breakout sessions.
Cocktail mixers are a popular choice, as seen at EWB’s meeting. As are after parties like this Garage Themed after-party. Calik Denim and Weber Metals both hosted a penthouse party for their product launches. Alternatively you can start your event with a kick-off party like this tech company did.
We can arrange excursions to get your guests relaxed, recharged, and refreshed before, during or after your event!
In Closing
If you want to attend destination events at major cities like New York, San Diego, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco; you would require an events planner that would seamlessly harmonize your event with travel, boarding, transportation, and communication requirements.
With Event Solutions You Get:
EASY PLANNING & PRODUCTION
- Planning for the attendance of a destination event is holistically handled by us. We will assign one of our destination event managers to help you with the proper planning of your employee’s air travel, airport pickup, lodging and in-town transportation. With one company taking charge and represented by an experienced event manager, you can be certain of a well-planned event.
A TURN-KEY COMPANY
- As mentioned above, there is nothing better than knowing that a single company will take care of all your location, logistics, and event management needs. Event Solutions offer turn-key destination event management solutions. We handle every aspect of your employees journey for the event. At the end of the day, we ensure a seamless, stress-free and fully entertaining trip to the destination event.
CLEAR COMMUNICATION
- We know that clear, concise and regular communication is key to a successful air travel, airport pickup, hotel arrangement and venue transportation. To ensure that there is no miscommunication, we will communicate with you in your preferred language.
HANDS-OFF MANAGEMENT
- Event Solutions are all ears to listen to what your intended planning goals for the destination event are. We endeavor to meet all your needs and our event managers take care of every on-the-ground arrangement, including contacts with vendors. These vendors include those that would provide catering, decoration, audio-visual set up, event entertainment, branded gift items and so on.
Event Solutions specializes in making your individual and group travels easier for your destination events. So, whether you are attending anniversary parties, a brand activation, networking events, grand openings, corporate meetings, press functions and any other destination event, you can rest easy knowing that all your immediate travel needs would be catered for by us.
We will take care of your single or group air travel arrangement as well as organize scheduled airport pickup. We will also handle your hotel arrangements and provide comfortable transportation from your hotel to the event venue and back.
It is not all about logistics with us, we also provide entertainment around town to ensure that your stay in the city of the event is a memorable one.
Contact Our Destination Management Company
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