Now in its 3rd year, SITE Incentive Summit Americas (ISA) took place 5-8 April at Montage Deer Valley, Park City, Utah.
Chaired by SITE Board member, Kevin Edmunds, vice president of sales, AIC Hotel Group, the event featured a stirring keynote from master storyteller, Dan Clark, highlighting the transformational impact of travel experiences on individuals and businesses.
During a General Session, updates were provided by SITE CEO, Didier Scaillet and head of events, Tina Gaccetta. SITE CMO Pádraic Gilligan led a panel discussion on the results of the recent SITE Index with SITE Foundation president, John Iannini of Melia Hotels and past-president, Rhea Stagner of Maritz Travel representing perspectives of the “Seller” and “Buyer”.
Outside of the formal educational sessions, attendees were provided ample time to network and, those who didn’t take to the slopes, enjoyed alternative destination experiences including skeet shooting, fly fishing, painting and a Mines & Wines tour.
“SITE Incentive Summit Americas is designed as a boutique event where smaller attendee numbers foster deeper connections among the attendees and the host destination. With its old town charm, its magnificent natural setting, and its vast range of incentive quality accommodations such as our host hotel, Montage Deer Valley, Park City was the perfect choice for ISA. A special thank you to all of our sponsors whose participation and contributions make ISA such an extraordinary event. It was a massive honor to serve as SITE ISA Chair,” said Edmunds.
One of the corporate planners attending the event, Susan Robinson, vice president, corporate incentives and travel, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. said, “ISA is an exclusive event that attracts senior, experienced incentive travel professionals. The educational sessions and collaborative peer-to peer-learning lounges provided truly relevant content that will help me in my work as a corporate meetings and incentive planner. I particularly appreciated the session on GDPR.”
Prior to the commencement of ISA, 20 members of the association wrote the Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP) examination; SITE’s soon-to-be-launched new certification aimed at mid-level incentive travel professionals. In addition to incentive houses and third party agencies, participants included hoteliers, DMOs and DMCs. The verdict from candidates at the end of the 2-hour exam was “Tough but fair”.
“CITP fills a gap in the market for certification for professionals from the world of incentive travel. The exam is designed to validate the knowledge, experience, and expertise that an incentive travel professional might naturally accumulate over a minimum of 5 years’ full-time employment in the world of incentive travel. The letters CITP after your name will be proof of your undisputed professionalism and will enhance the reputation of the company you work for,” Scaillet stated.
CITP will be formally launched at IMEX Frankfurt in May 2018. Applications are now being accepted from candidates who would like to take the exam – further details are available here.
