< PreviousF ace it: 2022 wasn’t a great year for employee engagement. Gallup reports that only 32% of U.S. employees are engaged, while 17% are actively disengaged. You may have seen these numbers playing out in real time via rapid turnover, dif- ficulty hiring new employees and “quiet quit- ting.” Wouldn’t it be great to start 2023 with a team that’s more motivated, productive, and connected — and less likely to jump ship? The key is for leaders to unleash their inner shark — and the close of 2022 and beginning of 2023 is the perfect time to get started. Sharks are smart, adaptable, discriminating and goal- focused. They also have symbiotic relationships with other sea creatures that benefit both parties. In humans, these qualities create great leaders, the kind people want to fol- low because it makes for personal fulfillment, professional success and satisfied customers. Employees won’t ask for engagement as a gift, but deep down, it’s what they crave. And the cusp between the old year and the new naturally lends itself to taking stock of old patterns and leader/employee dynamics and commit- ting to new ones. Many sharks have a “team” of remoras, or suckerfish, that they tow through the ocean. In return for transporta- tion, protection and scraps from the shark’s meals, suckerfish find and eat microscopic parasites that might otherwise kill their shark. My book, “Swim!: How a Shark, a Suckerfish, and a Parasite Teach You Leadership, Mentoring, & Next Level Success”, explores this relationship in greater depth. Readers learn that in the human world, “suckerfish” are those who need direction, coaching and guidance, and “sharks” are the empathetic, people-focused leaders who provide those things. The more a shark — the leaders — develops, supports and cares for its team of suckerfish, the more value they’ll bring to your organization. Not only are engaged employees less likely to leave your company, they will be more productive and fulfilled at work, which of course has all sorts of positive implications for performance and culture. Here are nine ways to keep employees engaged going further into this year. You won’t be able to make all of these changes in the next few weeks, but pick one thing to start, and as time goes on, mix and match what works best for your team. 1) “I want to make your life better!” Tell them what you’re doing and how you’ll do it. Be transparent about wanting to improve your team’s experience. Tell them what changes you’ll be making in the upcoming year and why. Then, ask them for their input. Not only will your intentions earn you some instant goodwill, their feedback and ideas might give you a better understanding of where to focus your efforts. Plus, employees are more likely to buy into a change initia- tive they had a hand in designing. 2) Have fun not just during special occasions, but all year round. The holiday season was the perfect time of year for casual holiday parties, celebratory brunches and gift exchanges, but don’t stop there. Throughout the year, consider catering lunch from time to time or organizing fun outings such as a happy hour, mini golf, trivia night a sports game, etc. Events like these connect employees to each other and to you. They are building blocks for engagement. 3) Introduce engagement rituals. Shared daily rituals get everyone on the same page and moving in the same direc- tion. In “Swim!”, the main character, Scotty, shares several rituals with his team during morning huddles. For instance, “Goals and Gonnas” gives employees a chance to share their goals for the day and how they plan to accomplish them: “My goal is to finish servicing the Joneses’ unit by noon. I’m ‘gonna’ do it by cleaning the condenser fan and oiling the fan motor.” This allows employees to hold each other account- able and help each other out. Another engagement ritual is reciting the “Sacred Six.” This reminds employees of six fundamental “shark- like” principles that will help them operate with integ- rity and success. 4) Create a comfortable work environment. Remember, Leaders, Unleash Your Inner Shark BY WALTER BOND PERSPECTIVE // Create a comfortable work environment. Customer experience is tied directly to employee experience. 8 January 2023 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comWhen leaders keep rank-and-file employees informed and seek their opinions, it makes the employees feel empowered. DepositPhotos.com customer experience is tied directly to employee experience. You might consider replacing worn, uncomfortable office furniture; giving people flexibility to work remotely when possible; providing snacks and coffee in the break room and making sure office supplies such as pens, staples, post-its, etc. are available. 5) Remove obstacles to their success. Disengagement — and eventually, burnout — often happens not because of a big catastrophe or crisis, but due to annoyances and incon- veniences that consistently make the workday more difficult than it needs to be. As a leader, a big part of your job is enabling your people to do their jobs, to serve them by making sure they have the tools, training and time they need. A good place to start is by removing “dead weight” like unnecessary meetings or low- value “busywork.” 6) Invest in your employees’ growth and development. When you help your “suckerfish” develop a skill, mentor them, send them to a conference, or pay for them to get a certifica- tion, it shows that you recognize their potential and want to help them reach it. This is a tremendous loyalty and engage- ment booster. You’re also packing your bench with future “sharks” who will be well equipped to serve your customers. 7) Ask for their input. In “Swim!”, Scotty recalls that his own “shark,” Drew, asked him a lot of questions. Often Drew already knew the answer, but he succeeded in his goal of making Scotty think through a problem or learn a lesson. Having this kind of conversation with your employees builds their confidence and strengthens their relationship with you. Sometimes, you’ll hear innovative solutions or ideas for improvement that you wouldn’t have thought of yourself. And when employees see their input being put into practice, their sense of ownership in your company will grow. 8) Just say thanks. As simple as it is to recognize employee efforts — via handwritten notes or public recog- nition — leaders often get distracted and/or stressed out and forget the power of positive reinforcement. This is a huge oversight. Lack of appreciation and acknowledgment often contributes to “quiet quitting”: People feel that their efforts are taken for granted and believe that their leader cares only about results, not the people achieving them. 9) Don’t express anger when they slip up. Mistakes are simply opportunities to “fail forward.” Rather than judging or humiliating employees, support them in fixing the mis- take and using it as a launch pad for improvement. If you treat employees with empathy when they’re at their worst, they will want to give you their best in the future. Also, they’ll learn problem-solving skills and feel better equipped to handle tough situations when they inevitably crop up. There’s one caveat: These strategies work only if you lead by example. Sharks exemplify the behaviors they want their suckerfish to adopt. The more engaged you are — not just with the organization and its customers, but with your employees — the more engaged they will be. C&IT WALTER BOND is the author of “Swim!: How a Shark, a Suckerfish, and a Parasite Teach You Leadership, Mentoring, & Next Level Success.” Bond is also a renowned business coach, motivational speaker and former NBA player. His time in the NBA taught him the fundamentals every team needs to be successful, and today he shares his knowledge with global audiences to help entrepreneurs, business leaders, sales teams and employees get to the next level. Bond has keynoted conferences in numerous countries for brands such as 3M, Hilton and Allianz. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | January 2023 9N ew Orleans & Com- pany introduces Wal- ter J. “Walt” Leger III, the organization’s new president and CEO. Leger, who succeeds J. Stephen Perry, longtime New Orleans & Company president and CEO Janu- ary 1, is an accomplished attorney, for- mer legislator and Louisiana’s young- est ever Speaker Pro Tempore of the Louisiana House of Representatives. Perry describes Leger as “a vision- ary with immense talent who will be an extraordinary leader for the next quarter century.” Leger was raised in the New Orleans suburb of St. Bernard Par- ish, where his parents instilled in him the spirit of public service and civic engagement from an early age. He is a graduate of Jesuit High School and Louisiana State University and Tulane Law schools. He began his career as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans, specializing in the felony prosecution of violent offenders and narcotics traffickers. During his legislative career, Leger passed more than 100 pieces of legislation, and was one of the most prolific and successful members of his generation. He also was named legislative champion more than 40 times, highlighting his broad agenda to promote educational opportunities for children, reform the criminal justice system, support vic- tims of crime, achieve tax and fiscal reform, improve con- nectivity and transportation, support economic develop- ment, promote affordable housing and protect and restore Louisiana’s coastline. Since joining New Orleans & Company in 2019 as execu- tive vice president and general counsel, Leger has quickly made an impact with employees, customers, members and industry partners. He has already earned a seat on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Travel Association Board of Direc- tors, and is leading national conver- sations about how to unite people through travel in these divisive times, restore international visitation to the USA and much more. He is inspired to continue to work to bring people together by the Mark Twain quote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” Leger takes the reins of New Orleans & Company in a city consid- ered one of the most culturally rich destinations on the planet. Incredibly well-known for its unique brand of joy, celebrations, festivals, food, music, architecture and so much more, New Orleans is also well-established as one of our nation’s most distinguished hosts of major events, conferences and meetings. New Orleans is truly ‘Built to Host,’ with billions of dollars in investments in hotels, new cultural attrac- tions, a beautiful new airport terminal and $557 million in improvements at the LEED Gold-certified New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The improve- ments enhance their walkability and other infrastructure, which makes them such an attractive location for major events and meetings. Welcoming others is in their DNA, which allows them to highlight and celebrate their authentically diverse people and culture, as well as their excellence in executing com- plex logistics for events of all types. Many meeting professionals choose New Orleans for its authentic music, food and architecture that provide memorable and successful experiences. However, New Orleans & Company invites them to see their beloved city in a new light — for its innovation, creativity and hidden gems. For example: New Orleans & Company Looks to the Future SPOTLIGHT // New Leader Succeeds J. Stephen Perry After Retirement 10 January 2023 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.com Walter J. “Walt” Leger III• The Artemis Rocket that will take the first woman and person of color to the moon was built in New Orleans at NASA’s Michoud Facility. • They offer innovative corporate social responsibility programs. The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisi- ana collects shells from New Orleans restaurants to restore oyster reefs and shoreline habitats in Coastal Louisiana, and has become one of the nation’s larg- est shell-recycling programs. • New Orleans City Park is the 87th largest and 20th most-visited urban public park in the United States, and is approximately 50% larger than Central Park in New York City. Amid 200-year-old live oaks, City Park features the New Orleans Museum of Art, the city’s oldest fine arts institution, as well as the Best- off Sculpture Garden, one of the most important sculpture installations in the United States. • One of the world’s top museums, the National World War II Museum, is located in New Orleans. New to the spectacular campus is Expressions of America, a first-of-its-kind nighttime sound and light experi- ence celebrating the power of individual Americans to impact the world around them during a time of monumental conflict. • New Orleans is one of only five cities in the United States accredited as a Global Biorisk Advisory Coun- cil (GBAC) STAR Destination. When times get tough, they get creative and excel. For example, New Orleans & Company helped create NOLAxNOLA, a citywide celebration of New Orleans music and culture to bring business to the city’s musicians when they needed it most. At one of the most difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city safely hosted more than 300 music shows at 35 venues over 10 days. It was such a success, that New Orleans & Company is making NOLAxNOLA an annual tradition. C&IT New Orleans is truly ‘Built to Host,’ with billions of dollars in investments in hotels, new cultural attractions and a beautiful new airport terminal. New Orleans is a top host city for meetings and conventions. Part of its appeal is its unique culture of music, food and architecture, such as the Cathedral- Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, pictured. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | January 2023 11CVBs Continue to Rebound Strongly From the COVID-19 Pandemic C hallenges faced by convention and visi- tors bureaus across the U.S. since March 2020 have been unprecedented. While the COVID-19 pandemic’s most crushing blows increasingly appear to fill the meet- ings and events industry’s rear-view mirror, the impediments for a full-scale revival of meeting and convention business continue to percolate. “With air and hotel rates up, pricing is becoming a barrier to bringing back meetings and conventions,” says Graeme Hughes, CTA, executive vice president of sales, Visit Tucson. “There’s global unrest with the war [in Ukraine], and if you’re a publicly traded company and your stock is taking a hit, you’re going to take a look at things. We live at the bottom of the stack when it comes to discretionary spend.” Gateway destinations, such as Miami and Los Angeles, at times have struggled with overseas pandemic protocols that have made it difficult for international visitors to attend events that historically draw a large foreign contingent. Although, things have continued to tick upward since the Centers for Dis- ease Control eased the vaccine requirements early last year. Claude Molinari, president & CEO of Visit Detroit, expresses a concern shared by many: How will CVBs be able to service the city’s meetings and conventions in the best possible way? “There’s a labor shortage across the board, and it especially hit the hospitality industry,” Molinari says. “It’s not unique to the city of Detroit, but some of these companies are hosting their first show in ... years, and they want to have a positive event.” And yet, when one looks at individual facets of the industry, it’s clear meeting, incentive and convention business is on the road to recovery. Key findings from recent industry surveys CVB Update INDUSTRY INSIGHT // BY DAVID SWANSON 12 January 2023 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comreveal that the vast majority of business travelers soon expect to take at least one trip to attend conferences, conventions or trade shows. These surveys also generally find that economic uncertainty and corporate policies restricting business travel are making things difficult. The return of in-person meetings and events — and busi- ness travel in general — is a welcome sight after more than two years of pandemic-related uncertainty, experts say. They add that there is simply no substitute for a face-to-face meet- ing, which is proven to lead to more fruitful business oppor- tunities and can help power an economic and jobs recovery in communities across America. New Revenue Streams Tucson is among the many cities that are seeing a light at the end of a long tunnel, albeit with revenue streams cours- ing through new channels. “Like so many destinations, we were on the precipice of breaking a lot of records before the pandemic,” Hughes says. “[Now], I’m looking at occupancy levels getting very close to where we were in 2019.” Hughes notes that his team lobbied Visit Tucson’s Board of Directors to keep the sales department open. “We ben- efitted from astute oversight, and by not shuttering our sales organization, it served as a vital link for communications as hotels went offline. The demand we’re fielding right now is extraordinary. We do a robust series of FAM trips and individual site tours, and we’ve found planners are eager to travel. We’ve hosted [hundreds of] individual site visits and [continue to welcome] new planners through FAMs ... so I see that as a real positive trend.” Molinari says the reason for the uptick in face-to-face meetings is because the virus continues to abate. “Our team booked [hundreds of] pieces of business in the last year, including eight citywides [last year and into] 2023. Two really strong pieces of business included Automate, a man- ufacturing show we wrestled away from Chicago that was put on by the Association for Advancing Automation. [They had] 20,000 attendees in June, and that [was] a huge event with robotic displays that filled up almost the entirety of Huntington Place. And [last] May, [we hosted] RAPID + TCT, a 3D technology printing show put on by SME. It’s a monster that brought in an incredible number of attendees. Because of our ability to land those events, it helps us get trade shows like the Silicone Expo and Injection Molding Show. Detroit is still a major manufacturing hub, and this is proof positive.” Courtesy of Leonard Hoops Carol Motley, Senior Vice President, Convention Sales and Services at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, left, says Miami has bounced back by attracting more tech-oriented events. Leonard Hoops, President & CEO of Visit Indy, says the city hosts “something pretty much every week that is a borderline citywide event or full citywide.” TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | January 2023 13New Business Models Some destinations were able to thrive modestly during the pandemic by pivoting their business models. Leonard Hoops, president and CEO of Visit Indy, says Indianapolis has hosted a wide variety of events since July 2020, when the convention center was first reopened and groups of up to 250 attendees could come in with an approved health plan. The city has gone back to its roots and hosted a bevy of sports events, which helped make up for the absence of trade shows. “With 12 hotels and 4,700 rooms connected to the convention center by climate-controlled skywalk, we can create a quasi-bubble,” Hoops says. “They like the campus feel, and they like not having to take shuttles from down- town. Those tournaments had an immediate impact, and allowed a number of hotels to stay open for business. Now, we have something pretty much every week ... that’s either a borderline citywide event or full citywide.” The big show for last year was the recent Gen Con, the longest-running and largest tabletop gaming convention, which has taken place in Indianapolis since 2003. Like Detroit, Indianapolis also has picked up some busi- ness from Chicago, which was closed through the pandemic longer than most Midwest cities. The Sweets and Snacks Expo has been an annual event in Chicago for 23 years, but Indianapolis hosted it for the first time in 2021. Early last spring, the National Confectioners Association announced they’ll be alternating Indianapolis and Las Vegas for the Expo over the next decade, starting in 2024. Miami was able to rely on leisure travelers to fill much of the gap left by canceled events. “When Omicron hit [last] January, I remember getting a call from several of our hotels saying, ‘Oh boy, what are we going to do?’” says Carol Motley, senior vice president, convention sales & services with the Greater Miami Conventions & Visitors Bureau. “They ended up having a stronger first quarter than they imagined. They were thinking Omicron was going to be a big deterrent, but they are pleasantly surprised at how well they did.” Miami bounced back in mid-spring with what is now being called Tech Month. “The NFT meeting was held in Wynwood,” Motley says. “eMerge had an extremely successful show at the Miami Beach Convention Center, as well as Bitcoin, which brought over 20,000 people to the con- vention center.” Motley says convention center bookings are continuing to move along robustly. Motley continues: “We want to build on that momen- tum, because corporate is a big push of mine. There’s West Coast fatigue, and we want that business to come here. On the association side, everyone still wants to be in San Fran- cisco and San Diego, and those convention centers will con- tinue to draw that kind of business. But ... I want people to know about the intellectual capital we have — we’re not just beaches here.” As the major gateway between the U.S. and Latin Amer- ica, Miami’s tourism depends on international traffic, and although leisure traffic is back at the airport, Motley says international meeting business continues to rebound. “The biggest difficulty is the border,” Motley says. “We’re driving the Florida market in terms of rate, and a lot of international visitors are going to Orlando, because the rates are less and they love the outlet shopping. So our biggest challenge is bringing the international market back.” VISIT Milwaukee kicked off its 2023 marketing efforts with a 35-by-23-foot billboard in New York City’s Times Square that ran from December 26 to January 1. It capital- ized on National Geographic naming Milwaukee to its “Best of the World” list as one of the best destinations for travel in 2023 — one of only 25 such destinations. The 15-second video ran four times every hour, and the billboard — at 1540 Broadway — introduced Milwaukee’s stunning lakefront, James Beard award-winning cuisine and diverse attractions to tens of millions of viewers. “Milwaukee’s incredible moment in the spotlight, thanks to publications like National Geographic, is monumental, but we want to keep that momentum building through 2024,” says Josh Albrecht, vice president of marketing and Carol Motley/GMCVB Motley says Miami is also seeking to continue building back its international market. 14 January 2023 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comcommunications for VISIT Milwaukee, in a news release. “What better way to do that than with a billboard in one of the busiest intersections in the world over New Year’s Eve?” This marketing initiative is just one of many that will increase awareness of Milwaukee in new markets and build on the momentum of a city adding new reasons to book meet- ings and conventions. Attendee Confidence Grows A former executive at Visit Anaheim says attendee con- fidence is starting to come back, but concurs that regaining the international sector is the destination’s top challenge. “Asia-Pacific is one of the big- gest feeder markets for South- ern California — [destinations] from Seattle to San Diego are impacted by Asia-Pacific,” the former executive says. One of Anaheim’s biggest draws is the Natural Products Expo West, and in March 2020, it was the first major event to cancel as the pandemic bore down. The expo was also the first large event to stage a return, last March, drawing 57,000 attendees to the Anaheim Convention Center. The period going into last summer was very busy for Ana- heim. Leading the list was the annual National Association of Music Merchants show, which had 45,000 attendees. The esti- mated economic impact to the area was $164.9 million. The Asia-Pacific market is one reason Bryan Churchill, senior vice president, hotel sales for the Los Angeles Tour- ism and Convention Board, was looking forward to hosting Anime Expo, a Japanese animation event [that drew] 120,000 attendees the first weekend of July. “That’s our most notable ... convention event, representing a true return to normal,” says Churchill, who thought international visitors made up 15% to 20% of the attendees for Anime Expo. “The event impacts 26 hotels, and the 18-34 age demographic is per- fect.” He adds, “I’ve never been more encouraged than now. It feels about as normal as it has been. We’ve been able to remain hyper engaged with our main customers. Now we’re in a business development mode, where things are reaching, and in some cases, eclipsing 2019 levels.” Churchill says the tech sector is showing the strongest demand and reached 2019 levels early last year, and that the destination will meet or exceed 2019 levels at some point this year. Whether for its entertainment, fashion or tech industries, Los Angeles has long been globally recognized as a creative hub. The city is prepared to exit the pandemic with 2,100 new hotel rooms, including Hyatt’s Thompson Hollywood and the five-year, $2.5 billion makeover of the Fairmont Cen- tury Plaza. The $484 million Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened in fall 2021, and LAX, the city’s congestion- plagued airport, is undergoing a $1.62 billion modernization project in preparation to host the 2028 Olympic Games. New Projects Come Online Around the country, destina- tions are excited to emerge from the pandemic with projects to tout. In Tucson, the city’s con- vention center has undergone a $65 million renovation, and added two much-needed down- town hotel properties — a 170- room DoubleTree and a dual- branded Hampton Inn and Home2 Suites with 200 rooms. Detroit’s Molinari reports 11 cranes are building some of Michigan’s tallest buildings today, with prospects for two 750- to 800-room upscale hotel properties on the drawing board. And in Indianapolis, in mid-pandemic, the City Coun- cil unanimously approved a $155 million expansion of the convention center. The expansion will share ballroom space with a new 800-room Signia by Hilton. Clearly, in ways large and small, cities and CVBs across the country are preparing to exit the pandemic with new wares and new flair. C&IT Courtesy of Graeme Hughes Graeme Hughes, CTA, Executive Vice President of Sales at Visit Tucson, says Tucson is hosting hundreds of FAM trips as things improve. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | January 2023 15 Because of our ability to land those events, it helps us get trade shows like the Silicone Expo and Injection Molding Show. Detroit is still a major manufacturing hub, and this is proof positive. CLAUDE MOLINARI, President & CEO, Visit DetroitPlease Today’s Attendees With Wellness Experiences A s in-person meetings make a meaningful comeback after the ravages of the global COVID-19 pandemic, organizations and companies are looking ahead, asking how best to regroup, reward and incentivize teams in today’s new meetings environment. Enter event planners ready to respond to today’s evolving meeting needs. Virtual programming? Check. Hybrid events? We’ve got you covered. Back to live meetings? Let’s go! Yet the meetings landscape looks different post-pandemic. After spending much of the last two years working remotely and with fewer meetings, the expectations of attendees for in- person events have changed, particularly when it comes to matters of health and personal well-being. Elevated Expectations The topic was highlighted in a recent videotaped panel discussion of wellness experts hosted by Hotel Business and sponsored by Peloton Commercial. Some of the featured A Healthy Mindset PLANNER TIPS // Courtesy of Sandra Barnhart BY NANCY MUELLER 16 January 2023 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.companelists included: Sonya Haffey, principal of V STARR; Kenneth Ryan, vice president - global operations: spa, fitness and retail at Marriott International; Anne Dimon, president/ CEO of the Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) and founder/editor of TraveltoWellness.com; Kevin Edmunds, MS, CITP, vice president, meeting & incentive sales at AIC Hotel Group; Mariela McIlwraith, former chief sustainability officer of the Events Industry Council’s (EIC) Centre for Sustainability and Social Impact; Celine Vadam, WE(i) Think founder & CEO; Ryan Crabbe, senior director, commercial experience and partnerships at Peloton Interactive; and Sonal Uberoi, global wellness expert and author of “The Wellness Asset: How Wellness Can Transform and Future- Proof Your Hotel.” Ryan acknowledges that the pandemic has heightened the importance of priori- tizing personal health. “It allowed us all to pause and look at our lives individually,” Ryan says. “We saw more people working out outside, walking, hiking and the like, and also put a focus on what they’re eating.” Dimon agrees: “What we have seen is that the one greatest things that has come out of the pandemic is people are now realizing how important making their own personal health a priority is.” In fact, she says, “The meetings and events side of wellness is bound to grow as more people are becoming more educated about how their daily lives affect their health, longevity and sense of well-being.” Yet, despite high demand, persuading businesspeople to attend a live event requires more effort than it did pre-pandemic, Edmunds says. “Events are no longer all about business — instead, attendees insist on bringing spouses or partners, expect activities both on and off the hotel property for themselves and their families, and demand a menu of activities that allows for personalized expe- riences,“ he says. McIlwraith echoes Edmunds, saying opportunities to get together in person need to be leveraged to have the greatest impact possible. “We want to make sure we design events that matter, where people come back energized and solutions are created,” she says. “The power of human connections is the ultimate renewable resource. Sustainability [and its connection to health and wellness] is about more than envi- ronmental issues. It’s about the interrelationship of people, planet and purpose, and how our decisions affect each area.” A More Holistic Approach To be sure, spa and fitness centers remain the gold stan- dard of amenities among conference attendees when it comes to health and wellness. “In the luxury space,” Ryan says, “spa and wellness are synonymous.” Karen Devine, CITP, CEO and founder of 3D Cruise Partners, says this has even extended to meetings and events that take place on cruise ships. “Our clients look for a good spa and fitness area, no matter the size of ships, and inclusions on port offerings featuring athletic offerings for all levels,” she says. “Health and wellness activities for corporate meeting events are as important as they’ve ever been. Particularly, coming out of the last couple of years, there is renewed interest in travel with a definite application to continue health and wellness inclusions on programs.” Still, today’s meeting attendees have elevated their expec- tations of wellness to encompass a more holistic approach beyond on-site fitness centers and luxury spas and what has become standard post-pandemic cleanliness and safety pro- tocols. Meeting planners have seen more people who have adopted a wellness lifestyle who want to incorporate those elements into their travels. “At the WTA, we see two types of travelers who can fall under the umbrella of being a wellness traveler: those who already live a wellness lifestyle, and want to take that with them on the road, and those who want to use their travel time, their vacation time, their leisure travel time to actually get on a path to wellness,” Dimon says. The Where Comes Into Play Location remains top of mind among corporate planners and their clients in choosing desirable sites for meetings and events. Sandra Barnhart, president of JWB Management Group/Continuing Education/University at Sea, oversees an organization that runs more than 100 meetings each year, in addition to managing meetings for organizations. “Our clients, for the most part, lead very stressful, overworked lives. As a result, we seek locations that are conducive to physical activities and have on-site gyms and spa treatments,” Courtesy of Chris Reed Fitness offerings at events can include any number of activities, such as hiking, top, or enjoying a few minutes of quiet time in a natural, scenic environment, facing page. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | January 2023 17Next >