Eighty incentive travel professionals connect, learn and discover how to stay safe as the industry transitions back to live events.
Following its postponement in 2020 due to the pandemic, SITE’s Incentive Summit Americas (ISA) took place live and in-person from 8-11 April in Colorado, United States.
Developed specifically for the event by SITE in collaboration with event managers, Unbridled, all participants were obliged to sign up in advance to “SITE Safe”, the association’s health security framework.
Mask-wearing and social distancing were observed at all educational and social events. All participants were given antigen tests on arrival and again prior to departure, with 100 per cent testing negative for Covid-19.
Tahira Endean, CMP, CED, DES, CITP, Head of Events, at SITE said: “Incentive travel experiences are like a Swiss watch – putting them together takes skill, precision and attention to detail. More so when public health protocols come into play.
“With event partners, Unbridled, and our wonderful host destinations, Aspen Snowmass, we developed our plan, a large part of which focused on health and risk management. But we wanted the extensive health security infrastructure to protect participants, not intimidate them. The feedback we received would indicate that we were successful!”
Rebecca Wright, CIS, CITP, interim Executive Director of SITE added: “With such pent-up demand for quality incentive travel experiences, there was a palpable joy amongst participants as SITE returned to live, in-person events. Symbolically, this event was crucial for us, but also for the industry at large.
“With ISA, we have demonstrated unequivocally that it is possible to stage incentive travel programmes and motivational experiences safely, with due regard to public health restrictions and guidelines. In particular, I’d like to thank our hosts in Aspen and Snowmass, and our event partners, Unbridled, for working with us with such diligence, commitment and vision to make it happen.”
The programme followed the usual structure for SITE’s incentive summits of networking, education and destination discovery.
Hosted by Aspen Snowmass, Aspen Chamber Resort Association and Go Snowmass, the entire destination was behind the event with W, St Regis, Hotel Jerome, Little Nell, Limelight Aspen, Viceroy Snowmass and The Collective Snowmass all featuring, and DMC support from RMC Aspen and Imprint Group – a DMC Network company. Award-winning author Ross Bernstein delivered a keynote on peak performance while an expert panel, generously sponsored by Kerzner International, addressed how we “unmask our future”.
ISA also featured a silent auction that raised over USD16,000 for SITE Foundation’s important work on behalf of the incentive travel industry in research, content generation, education and advocacy.
Featured image by Tobias Fischer on Unsplash
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