Large Group Travel

[Anonymous 1]

Have you ever planned a trip for a large group? My boss asked me to help plan our annual company Christmas party. We've done Las Vegas and Lake Charles. Las Vegas was during COVID so it was extremely cheap and I think they paid less than $10K for flights, hotel, meals, and entertainment for 30 people. Lake Charles ended up being $30K. Since that was so expensive, last year, we stayed in our home state and the company dinner party was disappointing.

If we can keep the costs reasonable, then we get to go somewhere more fun. But I don't have the slightest idea how to plan a trip for this many people while sticking to a budget. Would it be better to hire a travel agent? Or try to just find the best rates on my own?

[Heyteacher]

I’d do both. You can inquire with a travel agent while putting out feelers on your own.

[Olioxenfree]

I actually do this as my job, haha. I work for a research company and one of their divisions frequently travels outside of the country. My job is to plan their lodging, food, etc, put together guides with local culture and safety, and put together their PR for after the trip.

I have worked with travel agents before for some of the smaller trips, but it mainly saved time. It doesn’t really give much in cost savings since the fees for the travel agent balance out with the deals that they bring. My biggest piece of advice is to for partnerships. We’ve built relationships with a global hotel brand so we get pretty considerable discounts. Many hotels and venues have corporate partnership deals that can help out a lot in the long run. Make a list of the top three things that are most important for people to get out of the trip and focus on those.