Business_and_Leisure_Events

Business and Leisure Events Business and Leisure Events People travel for a variety of different reasons. Business and leisure are usually the events that get people out to venture to places away from home. Business events are the reason that people travel in groups. Work related trips, conferences, meetings, sales and purchases are just a few reasons people travel. Leisure events are other types of travel. Family events, vacations, religious functions, entertainment venues are a few examples of leisure events. Business events are organized meetings that are held at hotels and resorts. They are creased by organizations as a gathering place of staff of various professional levels in order to exchange and share information for the company’s benefit. Having a gathering at such a location can optimize work with relaxation and business combined. These events are very social and are enjoyable way to combine work and pleasure. Business events can be created by hotels and resorts to allow businesses to have meetings without the hassle of setting up themselves. Resorts and hotels have many more amenities that are useful to businesses such as video conferences. Large rooms, accommodations, and food service. Many times resorts and hotels can offer discounts to groups or companies. Many organizations do not have facilities to hold or comfortably accommodate large numbers of guests. Resorts and hotels have on site event planners that will schedule and make all arrangements so that they company won’t have to worry about any planning stressors. These venues are popular because of features such as internet connectivity, room size, the ability to network amount clients and coworkers. Business events included in the tourism industry because they can attract potential customers to a specific place. Many business trips include pleasure when deciding if they would like to explore the destination on their own or return on a personal trip. An example of this strategy is when a company schedules a specific trip for management to attend out of the country. Once there, they meet other “local” managers who offer those tours and sight-seeing after specific work is completed. The traveling managers then extend their business trip and turn it into a leisure event. Leisure events can be any number of events that are not considered with work. Travel and leisure can be vacations, religious retreats, sports and recreation, entertainment, cultural experiences, or just personal growth. Leisure events are marketed as relaxing experiences that will draw people to make a decision on their destination based on personal desire. They would enjoy experiences of the country based on things they enjoyed, such as cultural attractions, entertainment, and venues. There are many leisure events that are all inclusive trips that people can purchase as an entire package that can eliminate planning stress. Cruise lines are popular for all inclusive trips. This provides all services for the trip with all arrangements made. There is a room, food, entertainment, sights, airfare, and tour guides provided for one fee. (Van Der Wagen, 2005). Many times business events turn into leisure events. People will try to make the most of a business trip and turn into positive experiences with combined leisure activities. Combining both events is a great marketing strategy to include guests who would not usually choose that destination. Most hotels and resorts will showcase tourists’ destination. Many hospitality locations are aware of business and leisure events coinciding and use this to optimize the customer experience. If a guest is staying for business the services are not any less than someone who is staying for leisure. The services are rendered and standards are met equally and this will attract repeat customers. The hotel or resort will do its best to ensure customer loyalty, from couples relaxing on a weekend getaway to companies reserving blocks of rooms for a large event. Impressions for the organization will determine if their goal is met and if the location has retained the customer. Reference: Van Der Wagen, L., & Carlos, B. R. (2005). Event management: For tourism, cultural, business, and sporting events. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.