Distinction in travel journalism
Is independent travel journalism important to you?
Click here to keep it independent

20 Feb, 2012

Site Index Annual Study 2012 Reveals Optimism and Technology Trends

Site International Foundation

The Site International Foundation has published the  Site Index: Annual Survey 2012.  The Site Index studies seek to identify insights and measure significant changes in the business performance of the motivational events industry.  The results of the 2012 report reflect a stable situation with minor fluctuations since the last annual survey, and also conveys an optimistic outlook for the industry with eighty-nine percent (89%) of respondents citing that the overall use of motivational travel will increase or substantially increase in one to three years.

“What makes the optimism in this Site Index release interesting is that participants represented the pulse of 25 countries.  Recent world news has done a fairly good job of painting a less than positive picture but we know that for businesses to take a giant leap forward they must motivate and reward top employees and partners in their distribution networks,” stated Stephen D. Powell, 2012 Site International Foundation President and Senior Vice President Worldwide Sales, InterContinental Hotels Group.  “Reports like the Site Index can provide interesting data to discuss within our own organizations as well as with our customers.  I urge the professionals who consider themselves to be consultants to their clients to really take a look at the data that is available to them here and figure out what it means to their region of the world.”

Similar to past Site Index studies, this publication provides trends for our industry on a number of areas such as technology, corporate social responsibility, contract terms and more.  Highlights of the study demonstrate:

  • There is a heightened focus on the speed and ease of communications with sixty-two percent (62%) of respondents indicating smart/mobile technology is important or very important during a program.
  •  The method for capturing customer attention may be changing once again as the effectiveness of areas like emails, newsletters and telephone calls all declined considerably.
  • Use of technology platforms and transactions will continue to increase as forty-six percent (46%) of respondents predict the use of online booking systems for group services increasing or substantially increasing over the next six months.

Complete survey results are available here free.  The report is available to Site members as well as motivational events industry professionals.  Participant data is maintained as strictly confidential by the researchers and are not available to anyone including the Site International Foundation or Site.  The Site Index is made possible by partner donations from the InterContinental Hotels Group and Site International Foundation global partners.