Tours for Meetings and Events
Those who attend meetings and conferences in other cities have a natural curiosity about the towns that host their events. Although participants could simply go back to their rooms after the day’s activities are done and look up information on the Internet, it’s much more fun to actually get a taste of the town by being there. Why not book a tour of the host city or of some of the well-known places within it?
Even if you are booking your meeting in a small town in the Midwest just to save money, there will be something interesting about the area. If you need to go outside the cities boundaries, then go ahead and do it. Here are some examples of places you could take your meeting participants. It may be seasonal in some cases, but no doubt you could find other things to do in other seasons.
New England
You can find a tour a the beauty of New England almost any season. In the summer, look for boat charters along the coast, in the fall a tour of the colorful trees is mandatory, and early spring is perfect for excursions to local maple syrup producers.
Midwest
In larger cities, see what the local nightlife music scene is like and book a visit, or take a trip to a museum if you have a strongly cultured group. For instance, in Chicago you could do either–it has a rich culture of jazz as well as other performing arts and fine arts. In states like Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, and Kansas look for historic sites (such as Native American ruins) to visit as well as food-related trips.
Southwest
There are so many beautiful vistas in the southwest it’s impossible to list them all here. However, even in the cities there are things to find. Often you can check out a great retail district as well as historic sites, such as in Santa Fe, or take tours of local industry like the Coors factory or the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the northwest suburbs of Denver.
Pacific Coast
Also peppered with Native American interest attractions, the Pacific Coast is also well known as wine country. Most folks would not turn down a trip to a winery even if they aren’t aficionados of the fruit of the vine–there are also great restaurants and beautiful, lush scene.
No matter where you go in the U.S., there is something interesting to see and do, even in the smaller towns. A little hunting will bring great treasures.
