The Site International Foundation and the MPI Foundation have cooperated in a study to determine the degree to which convergence is taking place between incentive travel and meeting planning. Preliminary findings from this new research were released as a part of a joint press event.

Site International Foundation President, Steve O'Malley stated, “This research was commissioned to test the validity of and measure the anecdotal occurrence of the trend toward not only the combination of incentives and meetings in the marketplace but to also clarify who is taking the lead in planning when there is overlap. Thirty-seven percent of respondents confirmed that their role in planning other events (either incentives or meetings) has increased - while 63% said their role in the other events has either stayed the same or decreased. Since planning either one of these activities requires advanced skillsets, knowing this information can help Site and MPI develop targeted educational resources for these advanced professionals.”

Kevin Olsen, Chairman of the MPI Foundation Board, stated: “The MPI Foundation was pleased to work with the Site International Foundation on this study. In today’s marketplace, it is important that organisations who share like-spaces work together to elevate knowledge on behalf of our industry. While we were not surprised that initial results demonstrate that when convergence occurs it is primarily an outcome of budget considerations, we also know for a fact that 46.8% continue to call out public perception as a reason for the convergence.”

Full results and analysis from the study on Convergence of Incentive Travel and Meeting Planning Activities are available at Siteglobal.com and MPIfoundation.org.