Almost 500 years ago, a document was written that was considered blasphemous, earned its author a death sentence and changed the face of the Christian faith forever.

On October 31, 1517, a former monk nailed his “95 Theses” to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. With that simple act, Martin Luder (his birth name) opened the vault to a piercing view of the religious doctrines and practices of the powerful Roman Catholic church, and the Reformation was born.

Flash forward about half-a-millennium and today you’ll find faithful followers of Martin Luther’s doctrines (as well as history buffs and culture junkies) making their way through what’s now known as “LutherCountry,” an area that encompasses the neighboring states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Located between Berlin and Frankfurt, this part of Germany evokes a fairytale feeling with its castles, palaces and forests while simultaneously embracing all the modern comforts of city living.

Meeting and event planners looking for a special destination to hold their next conferences should consider a trip to LutherCountry, especially given the opportunity to participate in some of the events planned for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.

One notable city for events is Eisenach. Towering above the city center is Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German while in hiding. Inside the castle (the only one in Germany to hold UNESCO World Heritage Site status), you’ll find the magnificently decorated banquet hall. With approximately 1,150 square feet of space running the length and width of the palace, meetings and special events are often held here. In the town center, the 127-room Steigenberger Hotel Thuringer Hof (with eight conference rooms that can accommodate up to 200) offers a basic conference package that makes meeting planning simple. For a night out, conference attendees can walk to the Lutherstuben restaurant inside the Hotel Eisenacher Hof to enjoy a candlelit meal typical of what Martin Luther would have eaten in his day.

Considered Luther’s spiritual home, Erfurt is where he studied, became a monk and lived in an Augustinian monastery. He was also ordained as a priest there. Each year on November 10, Erfurt holds its annual St. Martin’s festival, but the city is spectacular any time of year. Nicknamed the “Rome of the North” due to its gorgeous steeples and spires, the city center is one of the best-preserved medieval sections in Germany. With 68 rooms and suites, Victor’s Residenz-Hotel offers eight conference rooms that can accommodate up to 400, and offers packages at various price points.

Aside from those in Eisenach and Erfurt, LutherCountry offers a variety of meeting venues. One especially worthy of consideration is the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden, which can accommodate up to 3,000. With its antique-style foyer and soaring cupola, it’s considered one of the most extraordinary conference centers in Germany. And while not technically in LutherCountry, the 218-room Jumeirah Frankfurt (within 20 minutes of the airport and easy walking distance of the underground station) is a spectacular new addition to the hotel scene. Planners looking for top-notch accommodations in the heart of the city will be delighted with its 2,000-sq.-ft. Crystal Ballroom, which features thousands of crystals embedded into the ceiling, and four meeting rooms.

GrapeFest, the largest wine festival in the Southwest, began in 1986, and its People’s Choice Wine Tasting Classic is the largest, consumer-judged wine competition in the nation. This year’s competition featured 119 wines from 33 Texas wineries. In addition to wine tasting and judging, GrapeFest featured a grape stomping competition, in which the winning team of two pounded out 39.76 ounces of juice to claim the coveted Purple Foot Award.

Attending GrapeFest not only opens visitors’ eyes to new wines, but it introduces Grapevine’s surrounding attractions, shopping and authentic Texas-style restaurants. Grapevine’s newest additions, Legoland Discovery Center and Sea Life Aquarium, attract visitors of every age. Legoland combines fun with education about how Legos are built and used. Sea Life features more than 30 displays of marine life, including 11 sharks in the main Ocean Tank. The two attractions are located at Grapevine Mills Mall, which has more than 180 stores and the newly restored Palace Arts Center, which is home to the Grapevine Opry and hosts a number of performing arts groups throughout the year. The city’s a boon to meeting planners even when the festival isn’t in town: There’s more than 800,000 square feet of meeting space at venues including the Gaylord Texas Resort and Convention Center, Great Wolf Lodge and other area hotels.

Proceeds from GrapeFest benefit the Grapevine Heritage Foundation’s restoration and program development at Nash Farm, where groups learn about the history of the North Texas settlement, farming technology and more. Multiple venues on the farm can be rented for special events.

Unlike many resorts, there hasn’t been a recent upswing in bookings of faith-based meetings at the Edgewater Beach and Golf Resort and Majestic Beach Resort, both managed by the Resort Collection of Panama City Beach, Fla. “Panama City Beach has always been a favorite destination for religious retreats and faith-based groups,” says Steve Bailey, director of group sales. “Our resorts have always been hot spots for these groups, and this is, in fact, our largest market segment.” He adds that while faith-based business has been steady for more than 20 years, it has grown significantly since the Edgewater conference center was expanded in 2000 to 32,700 square feet. The Majestic resort added a conference center that increased the total meeting space for both resorts from 6,000 square feet prior to 2000 to the current 45,000 square feet.

“We love this market as they tend to be very loyal, appreciative and easy to work with,” says Bailey, adding that the Resort Collection markets aggressively to religious meeting planners through print advertising, trade shows, direct sales and word of mouth. The sales staff is fully trained in working with faith-based groups, and a page on both resort websites is dedicated to religious meetings. Bailey says the resorts’ beach environment appeal to youth groups—their largest faith-based segment—and Panama City Beach is an easy driving destination for groups located in much of the Bible Belt. Summer is the peak season since school is out, but Bailey says the resorts offers specials and incentives during shoulder seasons.

Gaylord Resorts

Gaylord Hotels’ properties are mega-resorts that serve as true one-stop shops for meetings. There are four properties: Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn.; Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, Fla.; Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas; and Gaylord National in National Harbor, Md. A fifth resort is planned for the Denver area. The Gaylord Opryland is the company’s flagship property, but each resort offers between 400,000 and 600,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and between 1,406 and 2,881 guest rooms. Each family-friendly resort features a multi-acre glass atrium that includes indoor gardens and other attractions, in addition to a spa, dining, shopping and entertainment options.

“I think for faith-based groups, as much as any other meeting groups, networking and building community and culture is as important as the content,” says Randy Miller, vice president of sales at Gaylord Opryland. “When you go to a downtown convention center and you bus people at three or four different hotels, you kind of lose that ability to create a networking environment. All four of our Gaylord properties have these big atriums, a multiplicity of restaurants, and we’ve got the meeting space to accommodate everything under one roof. For faith-based groups, it’s all about people. To allow those people to interact—that’s the environments we create.”

Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa, Phoenix, Ariz.

Wild Horse Pass is located on a 300,000-acre Native American reservation and was opened in 2002 by the Gila River Indian Community, which comprises the Pima and Maricopa tribes, after the lifting of a 100-year gag order imposed by a chief in the late 1800s forbidding the tribes from speaking about their history and culture with the outside world. “Everything from the decor to programming to resort staff is intended to reflect and be sensitive to that culture,” says Stephanie Heckathorne, director of public relations and social media strategies. Guests can explore on their own using the resort’s meta-tag readers or podcasts, or join guided cultural tours offered by cultural concierge Ginger Sunbird Martin. “She acts as a liaison between cultures,” she says, providing heritage presentations and activities for groups.

“You could throw a stone in any direction in Phoenix and Scottsdale and be at several luxury resorts,” says Heckathorne. “That’s not to disparage them, but [rather] to make the point that high-end dining or spa or golf or a luxurious bed is one thing—we have all of that, [plus] at this resort the sense of pride in family and community. I think that really resonates with [faith-based] groups.” The resort works closely with the Phoenix CVB on outreach to the religious community through its Faith in Phoenix initiative.  “With the economy changing, I think it’s really the time to encourage people to look outside of where they typically have,” Heckathorne says. She says planners might be scared of a AAA Four Diamond resort and its Forbes Five-Star award restaurant, thinking the resort might not fit into an event budget. “These are new times when everyone is reinventing their business mix and customizing things to make it possible for groups to get in and experience this part of the Sonoran Desert. Just because you might not have been able to afford it in the past, you should not rule it out right away,” she adds.