Incentive - January 2009 - (Page 43)

TRAVEL News Site Awards Sustainability BY LEO JAKOBSON new arrivals Scottsdale’s Paradise Valley has a new resort: the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa, a 34acre property with 253 rooms and suites, including 34 detached villas. Amenities range from custom feather beds and sunken tubs to 27,000 square feet of meeting and event space, as well as six restaurants and five pools. The décor is based on the Andalusia region of Spain, and the 31,000-square-foot spa has a Moroccan-influenced style. www.icmontelucia.com Guoman Hotels has added one of Camelback Mountain is on display at the new InterContinental Montelucia London’s landmarks to its collection of deluxe properties. Dating from 1887, The Royal Horseguards, an historic 280-room Grand Victorian hotel set on the banks of the River Thames, just completed an extensive, $30 million renovation that added amenities raging from in-room WiFi and plasma televisions to Elemis toiletries and Egyptian bed linens. www.TheRoyalHorseguards.co.uk T he other big news at the Site Conference in Montreux, Switzerland, last month was the announcement of this year’s Crystal Award winners for the best incentive travel programs. This year’s winner of MotivAction’s bicycle-building program wins Site Crystal Award the 2008 Crystal Award for Best Sustainable Incentive Event was Minneapolis-based incentive house MotivAction, which won for the President’s Council incentive program it coordinated for its own staff. As part of a trip to Cancun, 50 MotivAction employees broke up into teams to assemble bicycles which were donated to the children of an impoverished commu- nity that is more than five miles from the nearest public school, to which they previously had to walk. “Many popular incentive destinations are located in or near areas that need help,” said Joanie Miskowiec, MotivAction’s travel purchasing manager, who accepted the award at the Site Global Conference. “We believe it is important to leave the host community better off than when we arrived. That means being ecologically and socially responsible.” Although MotivAction has won more than 20 Crystal Awards over the years, CEO Bill Bryson is particularly proud of this award. “To be able to give back to a developing community in this way was the highlight of the incentive event,” he says, predicting, “it will prove to be the most lasting, positive memory for all those who participated.” Details of other Site Crystal Award winners are available at www.incentivemag.com /SiteCrystal2008. on the horizon Beginning next month, MGM MIRAGE will begin accepting reservations for the ARIA Resort & Casino, the centerpiece of the company’s giant new CityCenter complex on the Las Vegas Strip. Opening in December 2009, the 4,000-room ARIA’s soaring, curving structure will be part of a project that also includes three non-gaming hotels and a vast array of restaurants, bars, nightlife and shows, including an Elvisthemed Cirque du Soleil show, in a half-million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex. The ARIA will have direct access to a 300,000-square-foot, naturally lit meeting and convention facility. www.arialasvegas.com The Las Vegas Strip will be redefined once again by the ARIA incentivemag.com | January 2009 | Incentive | 43 http://www.icmontelucia.com http://www.TheRoyalHorseguards.co.uk http://www.incentivemag.com/SiteCrystal2008 http://www.arialasvegas.com http://www.incentivemag.com/SiteCrystal2008 http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - January 2009

Incentive - January 2009 Contents Editor's Note: Rewards Must Be Sustainable Headlines Cover Story: Responsibility's New Role Incentive Interview: Patrick Lencioni Family Rewards: Who They're Working For Primer: Working Design Leap of Faith: Religion in the Workplace Cook Up Engagement: Kitchen Teambuilding My Turn: Procurement Possibilities Motivation@Work: Hard Times Recognition Legal Ease: The Tax Facts on Corporate Gifts Travel News: Where to Go and What to Do The Bahamas: Islands in the Sun Field Reports: Four European Destinations Golf: Around the World in 18 Holes Potentials Here and Now Watches and Clocks: Strike the Pose Golf Merchandise: Awards with a Solid Swing Computers: Digital Delights Retailers Band Together for Gift Card Market Gift Cards: The Prepaid Reward Spectrum Advertiser Index On the Web www.Incentivemag.com

Incentive - January 2009

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