Incentive - September 2009 - (Page 8)

HEADLINES Wellness Incentive Lobbying PAGE 10 The Incentive Federation has launched a campaign to convince members of Congress that incentives can improve health and cut costs Healthy Hospital Engagement PAGE 12 A new study by an industry research group has found that engaged hospital employees lead to better patient outcomes and bottom lines Incentive-Bashing Hits Arizona Hard TV report on a Social Security Administration training conference costs Phoenix-Scottsdale much-needed incentive travel business BY LEO JAKOBSON as Vegas and Orlando aren’t the only major cities that have had their incentive and meetings business clobbered by the AIG effect. Phoenix-Scottsdale area resorts have lost a staggering $100 million in revenues, and $11 million in tax revenues have evaporated with canceled and downsized incentives and meetings, according to a report released at the end of July by the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association (AzHLA), based on a poll of select area resorts. While the economy and public perception issues following the AIG fiasco are largely to blame, Phoenix-Scottsdale was hit particularly hard in mid-July, says Debbie Johnson, president and CEO of AzHLA. That’s when a local television news station sent an undercover camera crew to the famed Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa to film the final-night reception of a Social Security Administration (SSA) training conference. The event was subsequently lambasted as “a big rip-off ” by locals and elected officials, and the story was picked up nationally by ABC news outlets. That report was followed a few days later by L The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa and the Social Security Administration were targets of a local TV report on meetings excess another hidden-camera report by the same TV station, Phoenix’s KNXV-TV (ABC15), which found several of 1,200 Arizona educators at Tucson’s Loews Ventana Canyon and Westin La Paloma resorts, who were there for a two-day Association for Career and Technical Education of Arizona training conference, playing hooky by the pool. Calling the report on his property onesided, Andrew Stegen, general manager of 8| 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