How To Combine A Business And Holiday Trip, 6 Tricks To Help You
Because of the internet, international businesses are able to collaborate. However, when two businesses based in different countries are planning on working together, more often than not they meet in person. This means that one of the companies involved has to dispatch employees internationally, to represent them.
If you have been given the task of flying to another country to meet with people on behalf of your employers, then you will be pleased to know that you can also turn your trip into a vacation.
This post will tell you six tricks for turning a business trip into a paid vacation.
Planning Services
You should ask your employers to hire a professional corporate planning service so that you don’t have to arrange flights, hotel bookings, and transportation. According to the experts from teliostravel.com, such services make booking international corporate travel easier than ever. Your employers can use an online booking tool (which these companies offer) to arrange everything for you. Then, you don’t have anything to worry about. When everything’s booked and arranged in advance, you can focus more on sightseeing, rather than worrying about getting turned away from your hotel or booking errors.
By having your employers book through a corporate travel agency, you will have the time to create an itinerary for yourself, mapping out what you are going to do, how you are going to spend your time, and what activities you want to try when you are there.
Inviting Family
When it’s probably not possible for you to get your family members booked in to travel with you through your company, you can definitely get them to book their own flights and come with you. It’s very unlikely that you’ll have to spend the entire trip dealing with clients and in meetings. Most likely, you will have one or two meetings, and that will be it. For the rest of the trip (as in when you’re not in meetings) you can spend it with your family. They may have to stay in a different hotel from you, however. This is because your employers will probably book a single hotel room for you.
Travel Itinerary
As mentioned previously, when your employers book through a corporate travel agency, you can focus more on creating an itinerary for yourself. Usually, travel experts do not recommend creating itineraries when you are going away on vacation, because they can be too rigid, and can take the enjoyment out of going on holiday. However, when you are trying to turn a business trip into a vacation, an itinerary is essential. Creating one will help you to determine how much free time you will have for yourself.
Refusing Drinks
On international business trips, it’s common for people to go out drinking after meetings. The people that you meet will no doubt want to host you and show you around. However, unless it will damage relations between your two companies, refuse drinks. In some places refusing drinks can be seen as disrespectful. For example, in Japan, it is very common for people to go out drinking after they meet each other for a business meeting. In other places, it is not disrespectful, though, and not a big part of business culture.
Staying On
If you explain to your employers that you want to stay on for a few days after the meeting, they should be fine with that. However, if you plan on staying on, you will have to pay for your own flights. One good trick for staying on if your employers aren’t comfortable with you vacationing on a business trip is to pretend to miss your flight. Pretending to miss your flight, then booking one yourself for the next day, or a few days later, will make it easier for you to stay on without getting in trouble. Be sure to do a lot of complaining when you return home, so it doesn’t look like you planned to miss your flight.
Daytime Activities
Most meetings take place in the morning and the evening. If you won’t be able to stay on and have to go out drinking, then make sure you fill your days with as much fun as you can. Go out sightseeing, visit museums and experience life in the city that you are traveling to. Be sure to take a camera with you, so you can take pictures and remember your trip forever.
Business trips don’t have to be all work and no play. In fact, if you are smart, you can easily turn a business trip into a free vacation. Make sure that you don’t let your fun get in the way of business, however. Doing so could get you in a lot of trouble at work. Be on time, prepared, and ready for meetings.
