Incentive - January 2008 - (Page 32)

MY TURN Greened Out We keep hearing “go green,” but does anyone actually care? BY BRUCE TEPPER PROFILE INFORMATION BRUCE TEPPER, CITE, CTC is an industry consultant, facilitator and speaker in the meeting and incentive industry, and the author of The Complete Guide to Selling Meetings, Incentives & Corporate Events, available at www.joselyntepper.com reen is in! It seems just about every incentive and meeting industry conference this year is making environmental concerns a major focus (see Incentive’s coverage of this year’s SITE conference, page 53). Industry suppliers are being told, “This is what your customers care about more than ever: Do you recycle, do you support sustainable tourism, and do you use products made of natural materials?” G credits every time we step on an airplane and pollute the atmosphere, and most importantly, the need to start restricting travel to reduce carbon emissions. One conference presenter suggested that New Zealanders should consider discouraging visitors from the Northern Hemisphere. This is despite the fact that, Australia aside, virtually all New Zealand visitors come from the Northern Hemisphere. There were a few corporate buyers at this conference. Do they feel the same way? Is this the paramount issue of 2008? This October, the Travel Industry Association of America, an Orlando, Fla.–based partnership, issued the results of their “travelhorizons” survey. Some highlights “Americans believe in supporting the environment as long as it’s free or inexpensive.” I recently spoke at the Conference and Incentives New Zealand (CINZ) event and was one of only three speakers who didn’t mention the environment. Morag Donald of Incentive Insight and I presented a program on what incentive buyers want. Terry Epton of USA Hosts gave a stirring presentation on how destinations recover from disaster. The rest of the conference was on eco-friendly travel and saving the planet. We heard about the need to avoid room gifts and amenities or to use only those made from recyclable materials, the need for all of us to buy carbon-offset included the fact that more than half of all American adults advocate environmental responsibility, but only 14 percent said it would influence their choice of travel suppliers. Just 13 percent said they were willing to pay higher prices to address their environmental concerns, although 56 percent said they might. Seventy-six percent said they would not pay more than 10 percent extra and the majority of that group said they would not pay more than 5 percent extra. Americans believe in supporting the environment as long as it’s free or inexpensive to do—at least that seems to be the primary implication of this survey. In March 2007, I facilitated an advisory board meeting for a European tourist board wherein this same issue was raised. As most of the participants were independent meeting and incentive companies, they asked the question of environmental concerns on behalf of their clients. Did environmental support by the destination and the facilities and service providers at that destination affect the purchase decision? The answer was unanimous: No one cared! In fact, the participants all said environmental consciousness never came up as a factor of concern when choosing what to do and where to take their incentive winners and meeting attendees. Before you ardent environmentalist readers get ready to attack, I’d remind you not to shoot the messenger. This column is not a criticism of the environmental movement. It’s only posing the questions: Is environmental support an important factor or at all a factor in making incentive travel (or merchandise) purchase decisions? Are buyers willing to pay more to support suppliers who actually provide a more eco-friendly product? s 32 | Incentive | January 2008 | incentivemag.com http://www.joselyntepper.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - January 2008

Incentive - January 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Out of SITE In The News Cover Story: Include a Meeting, Improve Morale Case Study: DHL Delivers Recognition Incentive Primer: How To Use Promo Products How Bob Nardelli Rallied Chrysler’s Dealers Incentive Interview: Ken Blanchard Says Be Nice TV’s Extreme Makeover Motivates Giving Pre-Employment Motivation The Daycare Dilemma Happy Employees Shouldn’t Mix with Sick Employees Incentive Research: Consumer Promotions Report In Her Shoes: Winning Approval Of Flextime Travel News Field Report: Barcelona Field Report: Bermuda Golf: Follow The Pros potentials Here and Now Watches As Jewelry Awards: Online Gift Cards Tech Gadgets for 2008 Last Word: Stanley Bing Bashes Bully Bosses

Incentive - January 2008

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