Not since Blackbeard took to the mast has so much business been done on the high seas.

But these days, pirate sloops are not part of the equation in the waters off British Columbia. Increasingly, cruise ships are looking to a different customer - and she often wears a suit.

"Interest in business cruises is going wild," says Sue Mehlenbacher, consultant with Cruiseshipcenters in Vancouver. "People from all sectors of the business community are getting involved and some larger companies are even going as far as chartering a whole ship for events on the ocean."

Incentive cruises, conventions at sea and large groups are the principal segments of the corporate clientele, according to Mehlenbacher. Larger groups mean better prices per person for the corporate client.

Karen Dyer, Business Edge
Cruise consultant Sue Mehlenbacher says the industry is working to appeal to business travellers.

"A whole gamut of businesses are arranging cruises for their employees," she says. "We've had the staff of a magazine production team book a cruise together as a group and we offer incentive cruises to professional organizations, sales offices and many others."

The Women Entrepreneurs cruise, organized by RBC financial investment adviser Deborah L'Abbee, will sail into its third year this fall. "A few years ago I was trying to book a spa weekend in the Lower Mainland, but I couldn't find one that would take a large enough group of women overnight - it was going to have to be the Island or the Interior," says L'Abbee. "On the Island I knew it would have to involve the ferry and I suddenly thought - we have all this water here!" The spa weekend suddenly found its sea legs and, for L'Abbee, a new networking venue was born.

Cruises - both for business and pleasure - continue to increase in popularity every year, and seem particularly popular with aging Baby Boomers, say industry experts.

According to industry association Cruise BC, the cruise industry injects $1.2 billion annually into the province's economy. Cruise BC manager Jane McIvor says a recent study produced for the Northwest Cruiseship Association, Vancouver Port Authority and the St. Lawrence Cruise Association shows that 10,000 jobs are created through the $965 million spent annually by passengers and crews in Canada, and that passenger growth in B.C. is expected to surpass 1.25 million passengers in 2005.

The Port of Vancouver hosted 286 cruise vessel calls in 2004, a seven-per-cent decline from the 307 sailings from the city in 2003 - attributed in part by the Port of Seattle adding an additional cruise-ship berth for the 2004 season. The port's cruise business peaked in 2002 with more than 1.1 million paying passengers and 342 sailings.

"The good news is the total number of revenue passengers passing through the Port of Vancouver was actually higher than anticipated - evidence, I think, of a strengthening global travel industry," Vancouver Port Authority CEO Gordon Houston said earlier this year in a statement.

Cruise lines with ships docking at Vancouver piers during the 2004 season, which runs April to October, included Carnival, Celebrity Cruises, Cruise West, Crystal Cruises, Holland America, Japan Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Radisson Seven Seas and Royal Caribbean.

Port authority figures show each ship that visits the port of Vancouver is worth an estimated $1.5 million to the Canadian economy, with the bulk of that benefit staying with local B.C. businesses.

For RBC's L'Abbee, the Women Entrepreneurs cruise was an opportunity to offer a networking experience that wasn't all work.

"Saturday afternoon at five o'clock you sail under Lions Gate Bridge," says L'Abbee.

"It's Indian summer, we're going out into the sea and the ship is so luxurious. We're two days at sea with cocktail parties and seminars during the day, and we're back behind our desks by Wednesday morning."

L'Abbee and her business partner Caroline Parker have also discovered that the cruises have opened up a whole new world of business opportunities for them.

"We book three days on a repositioning cruise in the fall," L'Abbee says.

"The price of the event includes the cruise to Los Angeles, workshops, seminars and a mini-trade show aboard the ship and return airfare from California."

Additional packages including golf, Disneyland or a trip to Vegas are extra.

Seminar speakers have run the gamut from plastic surgeons, "talking about a little nip here and a little tuck there," says L'Abbee, to experts on business etiquette and women in business.

"I sure enjoy doing business this way," says Gabrielle Loren, a certified general accountant from North Vancouver.

"It's a great way to find new clients and network with other businesswomen."

Loren, a self-confessed cruise junkie, will attend the third incarnation of the Women Entrepreneurs cruise this fall as one of the featured speakers.

"I used to work for Revenue Canada and I do a talk about available deductions that people may not be aware of," she says.

Loren also sits on the board of the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and is the president of the Smart Women Always Network (SWAN) but says the connections she has made on the cruise are even more valuable.

"It is such a great idea for companies to do a cruise - the trips are fantastic for company morale,"says Mehlenbacher.

"A cruise can take your employees away from the office environment, and yet all the technical wherewithal is available to be able to put on a completely professional corporate conference in an environment where everyone is relaxed and able to enjoy themselves."

Contemporary cruise ships can be floating conference centres with large rooms and theatres to handle general sessions, and smaller venues for breakout meetings and executive retreats.

Any equipment available to the business person in a conference centre can be found aboard - overheads, PowerPoint presentation equipment and computer hookups are all standard.

Some ships offer multilingual translation through wireless transmitter and headsets and interactive audience keypads at no additional charge.

Many business travellers can also access the Internet and e-mail through the ship's computers, or log in on their own laptops directly from their staterooms.

Costs for meals, accommodations, technical equipment and meeting facilities are often all-inclusive. And most cruise lines will provide the assistance of a conference co-ordinator during the event.

"One of the main benefits to a conference on board a cruise ship is the team-building that goes on," says Mehlenbacher of Cruiseshipcenters. "It's a chance for staff members to get to know each other in a casual setting. Scavenger hunts and putting contests give people a chance to see each other outside of the business environment."

L'Abbee echoes this sentiment. "As financial advisers, we deal with people's money and it is such an emotional thing," she says. "After three days on a cruise ship, people get to know our style. I know that in business, I prefer dealing with people I like."

"As a participant, you're having fun, you can write it off. It's a great way to network. We have all the sessions over by three o'clock and leave the afternoon to have fun and meet other participants. And at night we have these fabulous dinners."

Mehlenbacher says the cruise industry is always looking for new ways to appeal to business travellers. One recent innovation is a new program available to medical professionals called Education on Vacation, a chance for doctors and dentists to pick up education credits while on a cruise.

Billed as an opportunity to meet professional and personal needs by providing education along with a respite from the hectic world of clinical practice, the CD-ROM-based programs are only available to health professionals in conjunction with the purchase of a travel package.

Course material is all computer-based, allowing participants to upgrade their professional development and still catch a few rays on the Lido deck.

And if all the learning leaves participants feeling a little at sea, well - that's just what the cruise industry is hoping for.

Web watch: www.suemehlenbacher.cruiseshipcenters.ca

(Karen Dyer can be reached at karen@businessedge.ca)