SITE
here is: how do we measure success? In
late 2019/early 2020, my conversation
with policy-makers, mayors and
destinations revolved around
over-tourism. Here, as well, is the need
for a New Norm; is success measured
by number of visitors or by
contribution to the local economy?
Again, this is an opportunity for the
incentive travel industry as it has the
highest per capita spend within
business events.
4. We need to revise our business
model
Many of our professionals have been
devastated by this unique crisis. The
entire supply chain has been impacted:
from agencies to in-coming operators,
to destinations, to end service
providers.
So, there is an absolute need to look
at alternative business models: from
cash flow management/deposit to force
majeure and cancellation; from budget
allocation for risk and crisis
management to insurance policies, from
return to travel to hybrid incentives.
This crisis will give birth to
profound changes in how we operate.
5. Co-opetition has a whole new
meaning
Always look at the bright side of life
(yes, I confirm that I am huge fan of
Monty Python). And here’s the bright
side from this pandemic: despite all of
our differences, we’ve ended up coming
together. Not at first, clearly. Many
were still believing that we could
compete and win market shares in this
environment. So not true.
I have seen private entrepreneurs
share information like never before,
fierce competitors rally around regional
and national initiatives, an entire
industry mobilise itself to survive. And
the associations have certainly been
very pro-active in that space, too:
Events Industry Council, Meeting
Means Business Coalition (MMBC),
Joint Meetings Industry Council, have
all been catalysts to bring the industry
together, despite the competing nature
of their memberships.
6. Crisis as an accelerator of trends
Back in 2018 (sounds like the last
century), we identified these core trends
for our incentive travel industry in our
Bangkok Manifesto: Sustainability &
Corporate Social Responsibility,
Incentive Travel as a Builder of
Corporate Culture, Incentive Travel as
an Economic Driver, Incentive Travel as
an Opportunity for Second and Third
Tier Destinations, etc.
These core trends were confirmed in
Vancouver and, as this was
pre-Covid-19, I’m often asked if these
are still relevant in this environment.
My answer is clearly, Yes. Sustainability,
Data
have been,
are and
will remain
crucial to
how we make
decisions.
But, clearly,
sharing the
data and
confronting
viewpoints
will be
essential.”
Corporate Culture and Economic
Impact remain more important than
ever and will be even more prominent in
the Industry recovery.
One additional trend that will clearly
be accelerated is the prominence of
digital/hybrid events. The opportunity
to mobilise wide audiences through
digital channels has clearly been proven
and business models will need to
integrate that component into how we
design and plan incentives.
7. Conventional wisdom, cloud
cuckooland and intuitive leadership
As one of my favourite mentors always
says: the prime responsibility of a
leader is to confront the brutal facts.
The dominant school of thought (I was
told) was that a leader needs to be
data-driven. But what happens when
the data change by the day (if not by
the hour)?
The new reality is that we need, as
leaders, to integrate the new dimension
of connected leadership.
Data have been, are and will remain
crucial to how we make decisions. But,
clearly, sharing the data and
confronting viewpoints will be
essential.
I have seen many people not willing
to confront the reality, wanting to
diminish the impact of a hyper-virus,
putting lives at jeopardy in the name of
economic impact, etc. We need to build
better mechanisms to evaluate, monitor
and confront the feedback that we
receive.
At one point in time, humanity will
have to accept a degree of health versus
economic risk: we will only find that
tipping point by connected leadership
and exchange.
This is a key take-away from this
crisis.
And, finally, this TOO shall pass.
Resilience and agility are two
characteristics of our association… and
we will continue to live by them.
Stay Safe, Stay Strong, Stay
Confident.
24 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 108