Incentive - September 2009 - (Page 30)

AWARDS Travel Destinations United States/Canada Big Cities Thrive: New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta, Denver Perception Hurts: Las Vegas, Orlando, beach resorts Canada: Exchange rate hurts Europe Perception Hurts: Many public firms can’t be seen going to Europe; others shrug it off and keep favoring Italy, London, Paris, Germany, Switzerland Caribbean All-Inclusives: New luxury properties make them the next big thing Airlift Hurts: Fewer, pricier flights hurt more than perception Building Momentum: Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Turks & Caicos Mexico Swine Flu: Barring a renewed outbreak, the damage is in the past Drug Violence: Los Cabos is not near it; Cancun is a question mark Riviera Maya: Interest is growing TOP In a year of canceled incentive programs, few destinations have remained unscathed, but signs of a turnaround are appearing Time to Hit the Road By Leo Jakobson The banking and finance bailout at the heart of the negative perception of incentive travel may be based in New York, but that didn’t stop the Big Apple from claiming a big share of incentive travel this year n a year when many incentive travel experts have vastly different opinions on how well destinations from Los Cabos to London are doing in terms of attracting U.S. incentive business, the one common observation is that things are starting to get better. How fast a complete turnaround happens is a different story. “This year, in our mind, has been two years,” says David Kahn, executive vice president of Los Angeles-based TBA Global. “The first quarter was something we’ve never seen before,” he says, pointing to the wave of negative publicity and public anger that caused every company that accepted federal bailout money— and many public companies that did not—to cancel all their incentive travel, even if it meant paying cancellation fees that approached the entire cost of the trip. “But the second half is also something we have not seen,” Kahn adds, noting that he’s seeing more incentive travel than in the first half of the year, traditionally the busy season. Maritz Travel is also seeing the return to I normalcy, says Rhea Stagner, the St. Louis-based incentive provider’s vice president of business development and sourcing. “Four months ago, when it first started to pick up, clients were talking about 2011,” she says. “They thought that was far enough away to be safe. Now they are more comfortable talking about 2010. The AIG/perception issue is tailing off.” That said, normalcy is a long way off. “It was a perfect storm: Banks, insurers, and automotive companies are big users of incentives” and had to cancel all incentive travel, says Michael Ruege, senior vice president of sales, marketing, and communications for Atlanta-based USMotivation. “Then the media storm hit.” At this point, Ruege believes, the problem is indecision. “After 9/11, it was slow, but after awhile there was a patriotic rallying cry” to get back to business as usual, he says. “This will take longer, but it will come back.” United States/Canada “We are seeing clients talk about programs, but they are saying, ‘Do not show me any places with “resort,” “spa,” or “golf ” in the name,’ ” Ruege says. “Many more programs are now in cities. We are seeing programs de-brand—if it’s a chairman’s club, we won’t [display] the client’s name in the 30 | Incentive | September 2009 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - September 2009

Incentive - September 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note
Headlines
Cover Story
Auto Incentives Turning Over
Strategies
Primer
Travel News
Top Destinations
Stockholm and Copenhagen
Broadmoor and Barbecues
Potentials
Top Merchandise Picks
Top Gift Cards

Incentive - September 2009