Delegates from across Australia as well as from New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam and India discussed emerging trends and innovative approaches that are shaping how meaningful incentive travel experiences are designed and delivered.
Encouraging delegates to embrace the power of influence and storytelling, keynote presenter Yamini Naidu also challenged the industry “to always ask how we can do things better, smarter and differently”.
SITE ANZ president, Tanya Wick, welcomed delegates and shared the launch of an online educational program for members, Fringe Benefits Tax in Incentive Travel, designed specifically to assist them in navigating this crucial industry issue.
Wick also announced that talks were in progress for a memorandum of understanding with the Australian Business Events Association (ABEA).
ABEA currently has strategic partnerships with several international business events associations, which are designed to deliver better collaboration, enhanced member benefits and knowledge sharing.
Sessions addressed critical challenges facing the incentive sector, including the growing demand for personalised and authentic experiences and the importance of measuring return on investment. Industry experts shared practical insights on the value of incentives for increasing employee performance.
Executive leader and former Westpac Group’s chief digital and marketing officer, Martine Jager, discussed how some APAC businesses are utilising incentives for better staff retention and increased overall employee engagement and satisfaction.
Other sessions focused on the role of technology in creating more immersive and engaging incentive experiences, trends for inbound tourism as well as insights from SITE ANZ’s Young Leaders on the future of the industry.
Delegates were also invited to enjoy a site inspection of the sustainably-driven luxury 1 Hotel, which offers 277 rooms and a hero event space of 1,000m2.
A repurposed goods shed, 1 Hotel’s managing director Damon Page said that 80 per cent of the materials have been reclaimed and repurposed in the construction of the hotel, creating unusual touches such as railway sleepers turned into bedheads.
Page also shared his excitement for another 1 Hotel to open in late October or November this year in Tokyo and Starwood’s first Australian Treehouse Hotel in South Australia, set to open in September 2026, both ready to appeal to the incentive market.
The day concluded with a call for the industry to embrace innovation while maintaining the human connections that make incentive travel such a powerful business tool.
The success of this year’s Melbourne event has already sparked anticipation for future gatherings, with the SITE global conference to be held in Abu Dhabi in 2026.
