Welcome to the KCA blog. This is a new endeavor for me and my creative team. I will post as I am out and about or back at the office so you can walk in my shoes with me. I promise never to be boring and always to bring you interesting news about something, someone or somewhere. So, let's get started!
I am in Aruba attending the SITE International Conference. Due to the economy, there aren't nearly the amount of attendees that there have been in years past, but those here are the movers and shakers of the international incentive arena.
Aruba is the host country. A small island 12 miles north of Venezuela is home to very friendly Dutch islanders. There is a University here, University of Aruba and they have a hotel management/tourism program which feeds into the Caribean hospitality needs as well as many students intern globally. Ryan Peterson, PhD, MSc spoke at one of our sessions on Thriving on Turbulence: Hyper-Competitive Environments. The weather is a consistent 82 "ish" and the water temperature is just about the same. In the afternoon the winds pick up and that must account for why all the trees look as if they grow sideways?
IMEX and Ray Bloom's team sponsored the Global Awards luncheon today and some amazing entries were presented. From universal options in Iceland to Brazilians doing CSR projects in India, it is amazing to be part of this organization and share in and learn about the creativity of each unique destinations.
The program opened with Geoffrey Lipman, the assistant secretary general and spokesperson of the World Tourism Organization. I have pages of notes on his Universal comments most notably those consisting of where tourism is hot. Consider this: China, South America, parts of Africa and India. And with that, the exclusion of continents are, guess what, where tourism isn't hot at the moment. I believe we can receive tourist from these countries but we can also market our services there.
The sun is setting and the evening promises to be once again full of creativity, local entertainment (boa constrictors) and culinary delights (cerviche) and island music. Several of the local properties have pitched in to host this group including Westin, Hyatt and now off to the Radisson's area. Palm Beach (Aruba) sports beautiful white sand with all the familiar water sports and recreation opportunities.
This is my first trip to Aruba and it has certainly opened my eyes. Wish you could be here too.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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