I owe you all an apology. I have stayed in some very nice places recently and I did not tell you about it. I did not tell you because I did not want to fall into the AIG dark hole. [more] But the more I think about this, the more I think it is a mistake to not tell you about the wonderful available deals at all hotels--from the nicest to the not-so-nice.
This past weekend my wife and I attended meetings in Phoenix. We stayed in the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale, which you may have known by its original name, the Scottsdale Princess. This is a wonderful Five Star resort that has just undergone a $43 million dollar renovation, and they are desperate for your vacation and for your meeting and incentive business.
They have had several large groups that have canceled because of the negative media remarks about AIG. Management from the hotel told our meeting these cancellations affect all 1,100 of their employees, from the general manager down to the busboy.
In our humble travel opinion, we think meetings and incentives are a very important part of conducting business. Meetings are vital to discussing important problems facing companies today. They help build teamwork and can increase moral. There is something amazingly productive about being in the same room as opposed to holding webinars.
A well-planned incentive should be a profit center for a company. If your top producers push themselves all year long to reach important goals and thereby earn a wonderful trip, everyone wins.
We have received many white papers from many travel industry companies voicing opinions on this topic. The CEOs from some of the largest hotel chains came together to publish an open
letter to members of Congress discussing the importance of the travel industry.
Robert Polk is CEO of Polk Majestic Travel Group in Denver. These insights are excerpted from Robert's weekly newsletter, From the Desk of Robert A. Polk.