SITE
Seven lessons from the pandemic
SITE GLOBAL CEO DIDIER SCAILLET ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19
ON THE INCENTIVES BUSINESS
he first week of August
marked six months since
the World Health
Organisation (WHO)
declared Covid-19 a Public Health
Emergency of International Concern.
At that time, humanity had fewer than
100 cases in China and no deaths. A
lifetime ago, it now seems. But these
strange times have also brought
valuable lessons. Here are seven things
I think we might have learned.
1. The global village
This pandemic has shown us how
inter-connected we are. And not only in
terms of the virus spread but also in
terms of common answers and
connected economies.
There is no question that we are
dealing with a hyper-contagious virus.
The question is: would it have spread as
rapidly 20 years ago? The answer is
clearly, no.
A classic example of where the
private sector has outgrown the public
sector: the democratisation and growth
of travel, fuelled by the growth of
low-cost airlines, completely outgrew
the crisis management and emergency
preparedness protocols of the travel
Industry.
This is a re-set button and we need
to ask ourselves how sustainable the
previous model truly was.
2. The power of human connections
Unprecedented crisis, unprecedented
answer.
At SITE, we’ve seen an amazing
sense of community, solidarity,
compassion and collegiality.
Here are some numbers: over 200
webinars, gathering 23,000 registrants
in 20 weeks… Unprecedented, you
said?
This crisis has been the catalyst for
an entire industry to realise and
demonstrate the power of human
connections. We took it for granted
that we could connect freely, hop on a
plane, see each other, solve issues in a
room, negotiate deals face-to-face…
What a lesson this is!
It is our ability to get together that
defines us and our ability to advance
society and humanity. It was true 1.2m
years ago (first human settlements in
the Gediz River in Western Turkey)
and it is true today.
Right: Didier
Scaillet, Global
CEO, SITE
We took it
for granted
that we could
connect freely,
hop on a plane,
see each other,
solve issues
in a room,
negotiate deals
face-to-face…
What a lesson
this is!”
3. The new norm
Our industry is based on travel
experiences, and these two words are
key to our recovery.
Travel: consumer confidence is
everything. It is absolutely clear that all
we do will be irrelevant if consumers,
individuals, our own loved ones are not
comfortable that they can travel in a
safe environment. Regaining that
confidence through demonstrating that
we have collectively learnt from this
crisis is quintessential.
Experiences: even when we will
travel again, it will be different.
Sanitisation measures, social
distancing, airport and aeroplane
protocols, meeting room capacity to
name but a few things. The key
paradigm shift is that travel will be
premium again. And this is certainly
good news for incentive travel: the
value of motivating, rewarding top
performers by extraordinary travel
experiences will be higher than ever.
And Turkey is leading the way as it
does become one of the most accessible
places on Earth for foreign visitors
(including Americans) while
implementing some rigorous protocols.
Another profound impact of this
crisis will be on Destination Marketing
Organisations (DMOs). The question
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