A few months ago, I was amused when I received a brochure at work for the annual conference and training session of one of the software packages we used. The conference was scheduled on a cruise ship.

While I’m not a “cruise guy,” I thought it was pretty clever of the conference organizers. The training sessions would be on days-at-sea, and lodging and meals were handled by the cruise ship. Coworkers were attracted to the idea of heading to the Bahamas in February, while being “on the clock.” While I didn’t attend, sending others was easy on my budget: The cost of the cruise conference — which included training, oceanview stateroom, and meals — was less than the previous year’s landlubber-conference at a mid-tier hotel in Baltimore (conference fee, hotel, plus per diem; airfare was still a variable).

Apparently, that value proposition is what’s keeping the cruise-conference business …afloat. (Sorry.) While the meetings trade is hurting, the cruise-ship-meetings segment is doing well:

Some cruise lines and travel agents report an uptick in the corporate incentive and meetings business on ships, and they equate it to the value of doing such events on a cruise compared with a land-based option.

“Our business in this area is up, and we have a significant charter looming,” said Howard Moses, president of the Cruise Authority in Atlanta, an agency that specializes in large group cruises. “My sense is that while this business is likely overall headed south, for the time being, cruising may see a boom in this area due to the overall value meetings aboard ships provide as compared to a land program.”
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Agents consistently noted that even if hotels offer groups a break on room rates, the high costs of meals, entertainment and use of hotel audiovisual equipment made them much more expensive.

“A cruise is roughly half the price of a similar land stay,” said Moses. “The hotels really gouge you when it comes to meeting venues.”

As vacationers scale back in light of economic uncertainty, we should expect cruise companies to ramp up the conference angle, in order to make their headcount for sailings.

Is a conference cruise something you’ve experienced, or something you’d want? Hit the comments.

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