We agree with Sara Hosford, Account Manager at SoolNua, who writes in the latest edition of SITE Motivate, that as we look to the future of destination selection and planning, a Destination Management Company’s (DMC) role will “go up dramatically in the years to come. Planners will not want to take any risks and a good DMC will be instrumental in managing suppliers, as well as the overall health and safety of the group.” At Meeting Escrow, we believe that planners should also takes steps to mitigate financial risk by considering event insurance and selecting DMCs, hotels and other suppliers who have certified they accept advance deposits in a secure escrow account. Our Secure Vendor Program global directory is available for download here.
“Post-Covid”. Is it naïve to be even writing that now? Honestly, as soon as I wrote it, I regretted it. Setting our intentions on a post-Covid world seems a bit like wishful thinking… the “post” part could be a very long time coming. Too long. Perhaps I should have said Destination Selection in a world adapting to Covid? I have read a lot recently on how the incentive industry is going to emerge from all of this. Some are optimistic, some are pessimistic, some fall somewhere in the middle – and I think the practical side of me sits most comfortably here. Covid is not going away any time soon… but human beings have excelled in this world thanks to an innate ability to adapt… and adapt is definitely the order of the day right now.