‘ On such a full sea are we now afloat ’
PÁDRAIC GILLIGAN , CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER , SITE , SAYS IT ’ S TIME FOR INCENTIVE TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY
I n Julius Caesar , Shakespeare talks about “ a tide in the affairs of men ”. He ’ s referring to the swell of opportunity that presents itself at given moments of our lives . Hesitate , you miss it and then risk the voyage of your life being bound “ in shallows and miseries ”:
There is a tide in the affairs of men . Which , taken at the flood , leads on to fortune ; Omitted , all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries . On such a full sea are we now afloat , And we must take the current when it serves , Or lose our ventures .
Shakespeare ’ s powerful words have been twisting and turning in the windmills of my mind for the past month or so . It may be the obvious connection to our metier – voyages , journeys , fortunes and ventures – or , maybe the more tenuous reference to climate related matters – floods , full seas – that has me thinking about sustainability and its place in the world of incentive travel professionals in a post pandemic world .
Following an unthinkable two-year hiatus , our industry is cranking back into motion with demand stronger than ever . The problem is this demand is pressing on a frail and fragile supply chain , greatly weakened by various versions of “ the great resignation ”. Many of our so called “ lifers ” have cut and run into the outstretched arms of gleeful ICT HR managers weaving enchanted spells of better money , better hours and free gym memberships .
Formerly well resourced hotels and DMCs are left struggling to deliver their service standards with massively reduced staff numbers , comprised , often , of clueless new recruits – if they can get them ! I witnessed it myself at a renowned five-star property in Barcelona when the only thing at breakfast that wasn ’ t scrambled were the eggs .
Now I fear that our worthy pandemic resolutions will simply be cast aside . If we ’ re struggling to attract , pay and train staff , will we have time to ‘ build back better ’? Or consider work / life balance ? And what about the even bigger real and present danger ? Climate change and all those issues that our industry categorises under the catch-all header of ‘ sustainability ’? How will all that play out ?
There are , indeed , positive signs emerging in this regard from research . SITE Foundation ’ s Corporate inSITEs , Edition 3 , conducted in March / April 2022 with a panel of 100 US corporations who use incentive travel , paints a very positive , robust picture of recovery . It demonstrates unequivocally that recovery is well under way for most corporations , with US domestic meetings and incentives already up and running and international incentives not so far behind .
More telling in relation to the focus of this article , however , is the increase in the relative importance of sustainable travel – up almost 20 % on April 2021 when Edition 1 of Corporate inSITEs was conducted . Granted , sustainable travel ranks well behind concerns such as contracts , risk management , health security and data but a 20 % spike on its previous ranking augurs well .
Even more encouraging are the results of preparatory work undertaken
Above : Pádraic Gilligan
“ Recovery is well under way for most corporations , with US domestic meetings and incentives already up and running and international incentives not so far behind ”
by SITE for the Dublin Manifesto , the society ’ s latest treatise on the nature , purpose and direction of incentive travel . Fourteen themes were identified across a series of workshops and put before SITE ’ s global community for ranking . The top three ranking themes were :
1 . Social responsibility – ethics in business , accountability , staff empowerment , fair wages , climate justice , DEI ( diversity , equity , and inclusion ); ESG ( environmental , social , governance ); purposeful corporations
2 . Sustainability – macro-issues : climate change , carbon emissions , destination selection ; micro-issues : programme inclusions , F & B , giving back , CSR
3 . Health and wellbeing – stress , burnout ; staff shortages , migration , and loss of talent ; mental health ; isolation ; flexible hours and working conditions ; # WFH ; unreasonable work practices .
While stress and burnout do rank in the top three , it ’ s encouraging to note that more global incentive travel professionals are concerned about social responsibility and sustainability .
On such a full sea are we now afloat , indeed . We must not waste this opportunity .
50 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 118