FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Bernadette Mari
Senior Marketing Manager
212-895-8264
[email protected]
NEW YORK--June 24, 2011. Incentive Travel Exchange, held in partnership with Site, came to a successful close on Wednesday at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. There were more than 6,250 one-to-one appointments and a record breaking number of RFPs exchanged reiterating that Incentive Travel Exchange is a productive platform where real business is conducted.
“We pride ourselves on delivering an incentive-caliber experience that delivers maximum ROI for buyers and suppliers," commented vice president of tradeshows and events, Alicia Evanko-Lewis, CMP. “The amount of positive feedback we’ve received speaks volumes for the quality of meetings that resulted from the pre-scheduled, one-to-one appointments and the vested interest they represent.”
Buyers were pre-qualified and met with suppliers according to their future book of business. “Incentive Travel Exchange is absolutely the best educational and networking event I have ever attended,” noted Leslie Blair, account executive, VIKTOR Incentives & Meetings. “The format of one on one dialogue with suppliers I want to see is an efficient use of my time. It allows me to stay abreast of new venues and trends so I can continue to offer fresh and creative ideas to my clients."
Suppliers concurred the format is focused and productive resulting in quality business meetings. “I like Incentive Travel Exchange because I find the buyers are qualified for my hotels. The event's level of service is reflective of what our clients provide for their programs and what we can provide for them,” stated Bill Love, associate director of sales, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. “Additionally, I can have productive one-to-one appointments while meeting with buyers who have requested to learn about Mandarin Oriental and vice versa.”
Incentive Travel Exchange drew suppliers from around the world representing hotels and resorts, spas, destinations, cruise lines, destination management companies and more. Attendees were North American incentive buyers representing high-volume domestic and international purchasing power.
With the supplier positions sold out for the fourth consecutive year, Incentive Travel Exchange included interactive and innovative networking rounding out the event, including Cake Wars which called for attendees to work as a team to create destination-themed works of art. In addition to the friendly competition, Site's Allison Summers reported on the latest data from the Site Index studies and global trends from the world of Site during “Impactful Incentive Programs." "Site understands the power in building relationships around the globe. Inspirational ideas and tomorrow’s business solutions can come from anywhere, which is why we support our members and delegates interacting together during events like the Incentive Travel Exchange," stated Allison Summers, managing director, Site and Site International Foundation. "What sets Incentive Travel Exchange apart from other events is a mix of the right people, size and format that facilitates highly focused business discussions-meaning everyone walks away feeling positive about their personal investment of time."
New this year! Attendees utilized ITE Mobile onsite to manage appointment schedules, keep up-to-date on news, announcements and participate in trivia questions while earning incentives for the popular RFP tracking program, ITE Bucks. The program encouraged buyers to submit RFPs to suppliers during appointments and rewarded them with ITE Bucks to be utilized at the annual Exchange Auction on Wednesday morning. Save the date- The seventh annual Incentive Travel Exchange will take place June 20-22, 2012 at the THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.
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About ITE Portfolio (IncentiveTravelExchange.com)
The ITE Portfolio, owned and managed by Questex Media Group LLC, is comprised of invitation-only, appointment-based events catering exclusively to the MICE market. The successful formula consists of pre-arranged one-to-one meetings connecting buyers and suppliers producing the most exclusive events in the world. The ITE Portfolio includes the flagship Incentive Travel Exchange (ITE), in partnership with Site, created for North American incentive buyers placing business globally. The portfolio also includes sister events: Caribbean Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange (CMITE) for North American meeting & incentive buyers placing business in the Caribbean and Europe Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange (EMITE) for European MICE buyers placing business globally.
About The Travel + Hospitality Group (TravelandHospitalityGroup.com)
The Travel + Hospitality Group delivers integrated products and intuitive solutions to drive demand as the largest multimedia organization in the world dedicated to the travel and hospitality industries. It represents a collaborative collection of tactical services consisting of robust online solutions, events and industry-leading publications. Within The Travel Division, the Travel + Hospitality Group will reach audience members through a variety of digital, print and event services. These include up-to-the-minute online portals travelagentcentral.com, luxuryta.com; print publications Luxury Travel Advisor and Travel Agent; cutting-edge educational sites tauniv.com and luxurytravelu.com; live networking events Luxury Travel Expo, Caribbean Meeting and Incentive Travel Exchange, Incentive Travel Exchange, Europe Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange and Hawaii Travel Exchange; and on the online luxury booking system fivestaralliance.com.