When people are visiting your office from out of the area, do you think they’re likely there because of a business necessity or more of a paid vacation?
I do find it interesting that my office is full of VIP client visits and executive visits from January-April, the prime tourist season in Arizona. Very rarely do we have visitors in the summer.
I’m well aware that companies are cutting back on business travel, but it still seems interesting that a lot of these visits seem to follow a relaxed schedule of meetings from 10-noon, lunch, meetings from 1-3 for a couple of days and then usually a half day on the last day of the visit.
Now, I’ll admit I’m not in a sales role, so there may be a great deal of business being done in the off hours.
I’ll freely admit that for one previous company I worked for, I’d often be sent on trips where I’d spend 4 hours a day doing a training presentation and the rest of the time was spent enjoying the expense account.
I work in a hospital. Business people here are selling something.
On the flip side, when I’m visiting somewhere for work, it’s for work. I have no idea why one particular company sent a bunch of us on a March research conference in Orlando, all expenses covered, trip booked for us completely, and managed to get us in there, into a meeting right away, business dinner, and bright-and-early morning conferences right up until the shuttle arrived to take us back to the airport. What was the point of booking it in freaking Orlando then, if all I saw was the inside of a hotel? They could have saved money having it in some undesirable location. At least a few other conferences have given us maybe an afternoon of free time, or you have the option of extending your stay and paying for the extra hotel nights, food, and any extra plane ticket charges yourself.
OP, your timing and state are interesting to me. We just got a new sales manager here and he left yesterday (Tuesday) for Arizona, saying he’d be back Monday; he went to meet and talk with one of our independent contractors who lives there, who works from home when he feels like it. I have never spoken with this person or seen his face, yet he’s technically in sales. Yet that manager feels the need to spend at least 3 days with this part time person.
I must mention this to our sales department. I must.
A bit of both. I mean there’s often little need to actually be physically at a location in this day and age of teleconferencing calls, Webex and whatnot. Much of it is about “relationship building”.
They did. Orlando isn’t that “desirable” other than Disney World and Universal Studios.
Places like Orlando and Las Vegas are major conference center locations because they are travel hubs and relatively inexpensive compared to putting hundreds of people up in places like New York City or San Francisco.
I work in South/ Central Florida so it’s about 50/50. The nature of what I do involves visits to accounts frequently, but it’s also usually an extended trip for most.
I work in a second-tier city in China. They’re not here for fun. Maybe some of them think they’re coming here for fun, but then they’re rapidly disappointed, which makes it fun for me instead of them.
What’s really fun it when I finagle a visit to them. Unless it’s in a second-tier city in China.