In the field of destination management companies, there are independent players, national networks, and global consortia. Now there’s nimble new player on the scene. MICEport DMC is a Philadelphia-based partnership of boutique DMCs in select destinations outside the United States. They are:
Ireland: Wallace Travel Group
Scotland: Hello Scotland
Italy: Studio ITER
U.A.E./Oman: Incentive Connections
Germany/Austria: Team Seefried
MICEport was founded by Matthew McElroy, who has 20 years of experience working with North American meeting planners in positions with Marriott International, Continental Airlines, and Tourism Ireland. The DMCs in the partnership were “hand selected,” he says. “We’ve done our due diligence. They have an average of 26 years in business. They’re seasoned, they’ve seen everything, they know every eventuality, and their creativity is phenomenal.”
And now, through McElroy, they share lines of communication as well, so a planner who takes a group to Edinburgh one year and books in Tuscany the next has the advantage of the Scots sharing their 411 with the Italians.
Speaking of Scots, Bill Thomson, founder of Hello Scotland, toured the Northeast U.S. with McElroy recently. Calling himself “anti-cliché by nature,” he loves nothing more than planning transformational experiences for groups. Perhaps your sales reps would enjoy storming a castle, with faces painted à la William Wallace? Thomson’s goal is to learn all he can about your company and your participants, then tap into their “intrinsic motivation.”
“Nice hotels come and go like the tide,” he says. But a truly special experience, tied to an emotion, will stay with people—and be associated with your company.
Learn more at the MICEport Web site.
