Steve Krohn calls it “team-building with wine.”
Groups come in, break up into teams, and learn how to taste and analyze different kinds of wines. Krohn, director of marketing for Newport Vineyards and co-founder of the New England Wine School, said he started the program, based on a British model, to offer a different kind of corporate outing.
“Most groups, whether corporate or otherwise, want interactive experiences,” Krohn said. “In doing wine tasting and tours [at Newport Vineyards], you use all of your senses.”
More than any other region in Rhode Island, Newport County is a hub for corporate outings, with a wide array of activities available that bolster the area’s natural appeal as a resort.
Martha Sheridan, vice president of sales for the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said corporate outings are a major source of business for local companies.
Along with Newport Vineyards’ wine tastings and tours, there are clambakes offered by McGrath Clambakes. Scavenger hunts put on by Marketing & Events Inc. help bring corporate clients closer together and get them accustomed to the area, Sheridan said.
America’s Cup Charters offers companies the chance to hold their own regattas.
All of this, she said, is drawing on Newport’s strengths.
“Newport is a destination resort,” Sheridan said. “We call it that because we have so many things above and beyond our meeting facilities for attendees to take part in while they are here. That’s what makes us a truly popular spot for corporate outings.”
The bureau couples a modest advertising campaign with an aggressive sales team to try and attract companies from well beyond the local area.
Roughly 29 percent of Aquidneck Island’s booked business came from Massachusetts between April and December 2005, according to data provided by Sheridan. Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland clients combined for 24 percent of the region’s corporate business, while 22 percent came from within Rhode Island.
While the region pulls corporate clients from all over the country, Sheridan said, the majority tend to come from the Northeast. In many cases, particularly regarding business coming from New England and New York, Newport benefits because of its easy access from Amtrak railways and T.F. Green Airport.
In the industry, Sheridan said, Aquidneck Island competes with places such as Cape Cod, as opposed to Providence or Boston, which are more focused on attracting bigger conventions.
“It’s friendly competition,” Sheridan said. “But there’s no doubt that oftentimes when a planner is looking at where to bring a group, they are looking at three or four places simultaneously. The destination that puts together the best package – be it hotel room availability and rates … or the ability to conduct off-site functions – is obviously the destination that’s going to get the business.”
America’s Cup Charters also draws on friendly competition. But the contest starts once customers have been booked.
Groups get to pick from the company’s selection of boats – which includes the second boat to ever win the America’s Cup race and a yacht formerly owned by media mogul Ted Turner – and have the option of racing one another.
Julie L. Lassy, who handles sales, said about three-quarters of the company’s business is made up of corporate events. Lassy said that the races stress the results of team efforts and hard work. And, with the staff of America’s Cup helping out the mostly novice racers, it’s accessible to virtually anyone, she said.
“Anybody can do it,” Lassy said. “You don’t have to be an experienced sailor to get out on a sailboat.”
It’s settings like the ones America’s Cup and Newport Vineyards offer that help attract people to Aquidneck Island, said Krohn. Both the water and the beautiful land scenes add to the region’s allure.
“The physical beauty of Aquidneck Island is really unique,” Krohn said. “I think people appreciate that.”
