Incentive - June 2008 - (Page 20)

at ROI from a perspective of what actually happens. What are the behaviors that actually get influenced? Brian [Martenis] was talking about this earlier: How do you show the business actually changed when a particular trip wasn’t offered? … That’s where ROI is. It’s in the results, right? It’s not about surveys, it’s not about asking people what they think. … I dream about an industry that is much more focused on getting our clients to measure what it is that’s actually happening with their people and with what’s actually going on. I think that could have a very positive impact on what we all do. But Corporate America is not committed to measurement or, really, effectiveness. Corporate America is still very much preoccupied with, “As long as we’re making our numbers, let’s not worry. Everything else will be okay.” Q are also choice destinations. S M : I think the Middle East is just blossoming. Look at all the investment that hotel companies are doing. Not just [Marriott], many other companies are putting big dollars in the Middle East, in Southeast Asia. Do you think the Middle East might be hard to sell? S M : Some of the places, like Dubai, are just absolutely dreams. What I see a lot Brett Hatch, Maui Jim; Gail Fitzgerald, CityCenter Las Vegas Some of them come to Vegas. Q Q Corporate social responsibility. How big is it? GAIL FITZGERALD: There are corporations that have a huge mission statement for sustainability, so I think that when they’re selecting hotels, they’re telling us it’s important. Whether it’s really important to the people, we don’t know, but they’re asking us to write it into our contracts. I don’t think anybody thinks of sustainability when they think of Las Vegas, so we have to prove to people that we have been conserving energy for years. It seems to be very important. Although we may not have recycling bins in some of our hotels, and although probably we never will, we recycle at the back end, at the docks. They’ve asked. They want to see the operation M K : I was thinking of comparing two equal programs. If one had more of a social responsibility aspect to it than the other, the one that has that social responsibility is going to play better. What are you seeing in Las Vegas, Gail? G F : I think we’re seeing a little bit of a softening because of the recession. Although a lot of people think Las Vegas is recession-proof, most of the [hotel] companies have gone away from the gaming as the primary source of revenue. It’s leaning more towards the [food & beverage] and retail, and that suffers just like anything else. We took a beating for a number of years, because our occupancy was so high and the rates kept increasing and increasing. You could feel a push back a little bit from the customers, but it’s all about the experience. People are still willing to pay for that. They want the fine dining, they want the shows, and they want to do all those types of things and business is still strong. [City Center] doesn’t open until late 2009, and we’re seeing tremendous demand for 2010. LOOKING AT TRAVEL Q 20 | What destinations are hot, which are losing their luster? G L : Croatia is becoming very popular. Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic Incentive are security issues. But once those get addressed, you get a lot more comfortable with it. I think people are getting a little bit more comfortable with the Middle East, not necessarily [people] from the United States, but certainly from Europe. B H : We’re starting to see a lot from Europe to Dubai, and Monaco and Barcelona are still very popular. Definitely Dubai, though. Dubai is by far the hottest. But Dubai doesn’t even understand the incentive market—they don’t have to yet because they have so much on the leisure side. S M : We track every [Marriott travel] certificate that we issue and watch where it’s redeemed. … [People are] trying to maximize the use of their certificates, they’re going to the high-end locations. A lot more of the travel originating out of Europe is coming stateside. It’s much more affordable. In the Asia-Pacific region, it still stays primarily within the Asia-Pacific Rim. How about the travel part of travel? Is working with airlines, getting through security, getting seat assignments getting harder? B M : It just keeps getting worse and more challenging, really. I talk about the presidential experience. That’s like one of my big things with incentive travel. You hold [the participant’s] hand, you make things happen. I used to be able to do all kinds of magical stuff that I just can’t do anymore. We used to be able to really have the people arrive at the airport and then get on the plane, and then get off the plane and go to the hotel. Now, everything has to be walked through [security], and they’re just like everybody else with their three ounces of liquid. We’ve been hearing about allinclusive resorts. Are incentive groups starting to use those, becoming more willing to consider them? G L : Many resorts are now offering the all-inclusive feature. They are most prevalent in Mexico and the Caribbean. Some of these all-inclusive properties offer fine dining and open bar throughout the day. If Q Q | June 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

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

Incentive - June 2008 Contents Editor’s Note In The News Cover Story: Seventh Annual Industry Roundtable Incentive Interview Case Study Soft Incentives Empowerment and Engagement The Incentive Career Incentive Primer Travel News: Where To Go and What To Do The Cook Islands Field Report: Bermuda Potentials: Here and Now 50 Top Motivators: The Best of the Best Electronics: High-end Audio Equipment Gift Cards: Should One Be Enough? Advertiser Index Off The Cuff

Incentive - June 2008

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