As meeting managers are forced to be creative, providing exotic surroundings for incentive programs or meetings closer to home, two packages are noteworthy:

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, offering all the flavor of the Caribbean without the passport hassles, the USVI Department of Tourism this week launched a Group Rewards Program.

Meeting planners who book a block of 20 rooms or more for a minimum of four nights between now and April 30, 2009, for group travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands between January 1 and December 31, 2009, will be entitled to a $50 credit for each member of their group, with up to $100 per room booking. The credit can be applied to dining, transportation, and other designated activities throughout St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas. And those meeting planners can enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win $5,000.

Hotels participating in the Group Rewards Program include Best Western Carib Beach Resort; Best Western Emerald Beach Resort; Bolongo Bay Beach Resort; Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort; Holiday Inn Windward Passage; The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas; and Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa, all on St. Thomas. Hotels on St. Croix include The Buccaneer, Carambola Beach Resort, Divi Carina Bay Beach Resort, and The Palms at Pelican Cove. Also included is The Westin Resort on St. John.

For more details, visit usvigroups.com.

In Bermuda, the Bermuda Department of Tourism, in partnership with Bermuda Hotel Association members, announced it has revamped its Group Delegate Credit Promotion program for the next three years. The island is offering a $200 credit per delegate for group bookings through the end of this year, which is good for travel during the next three “golf and spa” seasons: now through March 31, 2009; November 1, 2009, through March 31, 2010; and November 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011.

The $200 credit is good for any new group bookings of at least 15 rooms for a minimum three-night stay. Participating hotels include: Cambridge Beaches, CoCo Reef, Elbow Beach, Fairmont Hamilton Princess, Fairmont Southampton and Grotto Bay Beach Resort, Pompano Beach Club, and Tucker’s Point.

For more information, visit www.bermudatourism.com/meetings.