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Cruise News for the Corporate Travel Professional

March 2013 Edition

2013's Incentive Research Foundation Annual Event

Cancun. Mexico has really "grown up" in the last few years...  I had not spent any time in Cancun for perhaps 10 years, simply flying into the airport and then travelling on to my ultimate destination.

My last visit was a family beach vacation which with a youngish family worked really well.  I was curious to see how this amazing beach resort had matured in the interim. Growing from just 3 residents in 1970 to close to 750,000 currently

As an invited guest of Prestige Cruise Holdings, the parent company of Oceania and Regents Seven Seas Cruises, I was  happy to accept their invitation to the 20th Annual Incentive Invitational Event hosted by the IRF. 

This years event was generously hosted by the Hardrock Hotel, Cancun.  A fairly recent addition to the Cancun Beach scene, being located right on the beautiful white sand beach that makes up the hotel strip, the commercial center adjacent  - popularly known as Cancun downtown or Cancun Centro is where much of the business of the area takes place.

The IRF event is their major fund raiser for the organization and has also over the years evolved into a very serious education arena for the incentive industry,  It also allows many of the local hospitality and tourism companies an opportunity to showcase their properties and services. 

This year we where hosted to several cocktail receptions at excellent resort properties as well as being able to enjoy a couple of local golf courses as well as other excursions generously hosted on our behalf.

Personally, I find the IRF event to be a great opportunity to catch up with many of the incentive industries important players as well as many of the suppliers we use during the delivery of our programs.

This year was an important year for the IRF - it being their 20th Annual Event so I was somewhat surprised it was held firstly in Cancun, a place many of us the the industry have used for years and then to use the Hardrock as the host hotel... I have to jump in here and say - there was nothing wrong with either of these - but it did strike me as a strange choice.

The event was delivered in it's usual smooth and professional style, everyone from the transport workers to the bus boys being super helpful, enthusiastic and friendly.. no complaints with that part either.

The sponsors also came to the fore with many interesting packages for both the live and silent auction although there did seem to be a preponderance of packages from Las Vegas and Florida and a scarcity of international offerings.

As an invited guest I was very pleased with the whole event  and definitely worth the investment in time and money to attend what has become one of  the incentive industries premier event next to SITE International and the SITE Classic event.

This revue solely reflects the opinion of the author; James Castle and does not reflect the opinion of WWTCA

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