SITE
Two steps forward , one step back
PÁDRAIC GILLIGAN , CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER OF SOCIETY FOR INCENTIVE TRAVEL EXCELLENCE ( SITE ), EXAMINES THE SNAKES AND LADDERS ROAD TO RECOVERY
I n April 2021 , SITE Foundation launched Corporate inSITEs , a research study into the changing face of incentive travel . The second edition of the research , conducted in late August / early September and launched in October , reveals some notable changes .
The April edition of Corporate inSITEs , with responses from 50 US corporations , revealed that almost all respondents had wholehearted support for their incentive travel programmes from their company leadership .
The report also pointed to a much swifter than anticipated resumption of travel events , with live incentives set to take place in Q3 and Q4 of 2021 . Changes in priorities were noted , too , with respondents spotlighting contracts as a top concern and choosing safety as their number one criterion for destination selection .
Fast forward to late August / September and we see a weakening of sentiment on the part of corporate leadership , postponement of Q3 and Q4 programmes into 2022 and further priority changes , particularly regarding sustainability and industry connections .
The airy spring light of April is replaced by the late summer gloom of August as the Delta variant takes hold in the US , and the vaccination programme peters off , having started so well . This is the underlying story of Corporate inSITEs , Edition 2 .
Yet signs of tentative green shoots continue . One US Financial & Insurance company that mandated vaccines for all participants managed to operate five incentive programmes between June and September , although participation was down by as much as 50 % on some events , as the requirement to be vaccinated was too much for some US qualifiers .
So , we ’ re getting there , but not as quickly as we may have hoped , going on the semi-euphoria of the April survey results . But if sentiment is stirred and shaken in the late August Corporate inSITEs , there are other underlying items worth calling out for the positive slant they place on how US corporations are seeing incentive travel .
There is a welcome increase in focus on sustainability – up 11 % in August on its April ranking - proving that sustainability and all its wide ranging implications are becoming more a ‘ must have ’ than a ‘ like to have ’ and underlining that ongoing change in corporate direction where shareholder
APPEAL
SAFETY
INFRASTRUCTURE
ACCESS
COVID SAFETY
COST
MICE SUPPORT
DESTINATION RELEVANCE
Above : Pádraic Gilligan
Below : Ranking of Criteria for Destination Selection ( August / September 2021 ) value is , increasingly , seen as one , and only one , of the multifarious objectives of which contemporary corporations need to be mindful .
Also Corporate inSITEs Edition 2 now ranks Destination Appeal in top spot again ( 6.5 ), followed by Safety ( 5.8 ) and Infrastructure ( 5.6 ). While Safety is still a top 3 criterion , this suggests a normalisation of sentiment and hints at an underlying conviction that we are definitely , and decisively , on the road to recovery !
So recovery continues , but it ’ s two steps forward , one step back for the moment . We need to keep the faith , be patient and accept that it ’ ll be early 2022 before we can really expect to see the bountiful signs of Spring “… when weeds , in wheels , shoot long and lovely and lush ”.
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