Attendees from all over the world gathered in Hong Kong in late summer for the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE) Asian Symposium.
A panel of incentive end-users-both corporate clients and incentive houses representing Asian, U.S., and U.K. perspectives-discussed the expectations of an incentive experience. Louise Hall Reider, CITE, director of meetings and incentive management for BTI Americas, said that creating an incentive experience requires "forming a dream team" of suppliers. Trust, she said, is the most important factor in choosing those team members.
Two corporate end-users, one from Australia and the other from Singapore, both said that their incentive travel programs play a key role in attracting and retaining salespeople. Both were from insurance companies.
And Lynne Morris, director, Keith Tottem Marketing & PR, U.K., echoed other panelists when she said that each year, incentive destinations are either "in" or "out." The current climate, she added, is overcoming a recent trend toward "no risk" destinations to put long-haul destinations like Zimbabwe and South Africa in favor.