Incentive Travel & Merchandise

SITE Global Meets in Istanbul

January 31, 2024

SITE’s flagship event February 26-29 brings together incentive
travel professionals from around the world for a conference
theme of building and bridging cultures.

Istanbul, Türkiye, known as the crossroads between east and west, is the perfect destination for an event seeking to build and bridge cultures. The SITE Global Conference, meeting here at the beautiful Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus February 26-29, will look at how travel experiences, when well designed and executed, can act as a bridge between cultures and help to build tolerance, acceptance and mutual understanding.

Content will also take a deep dive into current trends shaping the incentive travel industry. Education at SITE Global Conference includes keynotes and plenaries, peer-to-peer learning, case studies, updates on shifts and trends and presentations on the latest research using traditional, experiential and experimental formats.

SITE Global Session Tracks

Shifting Demographics. With 75 percent of the U.S. workforce predicted to be under 40 years old by 2025, there’s a new generation influencing incentive program design, service delivery and participant preferences. This track will address how generational shifts impact training, destination selection and more.

New Technology & AI. This track will address questions arising from the rapid changes brought about by new technology and AI. Does augmented reality aid or threaten the incentive travel industry? Advancements in artificial intelligence like ChatGPT are altering activities like copywriting and marketing. Can the incentive travel industry understand and exploit these innovations? Can virtual enhancements make a destination come alive and drive more excitement from qualifiers? How can artificial intelligence help incentive professionals customize and personalize experiences to make them even more powerful?

Business Case for Incentive Travel. As incentive travel is increasingly used to promote “soft power” in organizations—better staff /management relationships, better modeling of company culture, etc—can the incentive travel industry justify the business case for incentive programs and face-to-face events beyond ROI? SITE sessions in this track will cover resources that include quantitative data on business growth, as well as qualitative data on the power of relationships.

Sustainability. Questions around environmental sustainability are multiplying, even as the focus on sustainability among US incentive travel professionals remains relatively weak in contrast to other areas around the globe. In some international destinations, for example, “flight shaming” is a hot topic due to the high carbon footprint of flying. Can incentive travel prevail and prosper in such a context? What does sustainable incentive travel look like?

DEIB: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. While the business events industry has taken steps to be more inclusive and diverse, there are still inequities in key areas like leadership, wages and hiring. This track will cover what needs to be done on the systemic, company and personal fronts to provide fair access for all. Sessions will also examine whether or not the incentive travel industry is keeping pace with radical changes in the corporate world, where environmental, social, & governance (ESG) concerns are increasingly shaping choices and budget allocations.