Get With The Spirit

Looking for the perfect holiday gifts for your well-traveled employees? We asked Mie-Yun Lee, editorial director for BuyerZone.com, for some ideas.

"If you really want to make an impact with a gift, you have to tailor it to [the recipient]," says Lee, whose company worked with American Express last year to produce its small-business gift-giving survey. "Items appropriate for [business] travelers don't have to be that expensive." In fact, nearly half the people who responded to last year's survey said they spent less than $50 per gift.

What's hot this season?

• Pack it up. The latest and greatest in luggage is a combination bag that offers the durability of a hard exterior with the features of a soft interior. The Hardside Collection by Atlantic Luggage starts at $179. It features a scratch- and temperature-resistant cover made of composite materials and an interior garment bag. For details, call (800) 523-5029 or visit http://www.atlanticluggage.com.

• Portable aromatherapy. The Aromatherapy Travel Tins gift package ($39.95 from Illuminations) features three scented candles (in angelica, patchouli and lavender) sure to rejuvenate tired road warriors. Call (800) 226-3537 or go to http://www.illuminations.com.

• Play it safe. Help keep your staff out of harm's way by giving them a Safe T Map for their next big-city foray. Safe T Maps are color-coded county maps based on FBI and police crime statistics. Each map includes a crime-trend indicator and police station locations and phone numbers. A Safe T Map of Los Angeles County is currently available; other major California cities, plus Chicago, Dallas and Washington, DC, should be available soon. For purchasing information, call (310) 413-4121 or visit http://www.galaxymall.com/travel/safetymaps.

Use the Net to make gift-buying even easier. At BuyerZone.com, you can comparison-shop before purchasing items at a retail store or on the Web. And online shop RedEnvelope Gifts Online lets users conduct a special gift search to help them select from a variety of customized gift possibilities online. Items ordered before midnight Eastern time can be delivered the next day--even on holidays.

Christopher Elliott is a writer in Annapolis, Maryland. Contact him at http://www.elliott.org.

This article was originally published in the December 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Get With The Spirit.