Incentive Summit Americas “peaks” in Canada, PLUS SITE launches Zimbabwe Executive Summit
CHICAGO – Boutique by choice and intimate by design, Society for Incentive Travel Excellence’s (SITE) Incentive Summit Americas brought an elite group of 130 incentive travel professionals to the iconic Fairmont Banff Springs to connect, learn and discover a truly “incentive-ready” destination with an incomparable cultural sustainability story.
In addition, participants at ISA raised over $35,000 USD for SITE Foundation’s important work on research, education and industry impact.
“Quality education is the hallmark of SITE’s Incentive Summit series and this year, two of the educational sessions drew upon Indigenous wisdom. Kendall Netmaker (sponsored by Speak Inc.) shared a compelling story about grabbing what’s right in front of you, and Destination Canada’s Jennifer Attersall held a fascinating fireside chat with Brenda Holder, a woman of Cree descent who shares her people’s knowledge on tours through rural Alberta, Canada,” said Annette Gregg, MBA, CMM, CEO of SITE & SITE Foundation.
“Banff/Lake Louise is a quintessential incentive destination so it’s vital for a DMO like ours to be part of SITE and to bid to host events like Incentive Summit Americas. SITE is all about relationships. By hosting ISA, we foster these relationships, strengthen them, make them life-long. We’re hugely proud, too, of our sustainability and CSR credentials and were grateful to showcase them throughout this event,” said Mariana Shackleton, Manager, Business Events, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism.
Meanwhile, SITE is also announcing the launch of its forthcoming Executive Summit, destined for Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, June 20–24.
Hosted usually in emerging destinations, SITE Executive Summit has recently taken place in Rwanda, Turkey, Slovenia and Abu Dhabi.
With the full presence and participation of SITE’s International Board of Directors, the defining characteristics of Executive Summit are education and destination immersion — formal learning sessions with the local incentive travel community and intensive, immersive destination experiences for the visiting delegation.
Commenting on the forthcoming trip to Zimbabwe, SITE CEO Annette Gregg said, “SITE is committed to working with new and emerging destinations and helping position and refine their offerings for discerning incentive travel qualifiers. With its unique natural setting, World Heritage Sites and incentive-ready resorts, hotels and lodges, Zimbabwe has so much to offer. SITE looks forward to working with the local incentive travel community to delivering award-winning incentive travel programs in southern Africa.”
“Not only are we looking forward to hosting SITE’s International Board of Directors, we view them as ambassadors who will reinforce our marketing efforts in driving the viability of incentive travel in Zimbabwe,” said Winnie Muchanyuka, Chief Executive of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.
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