The Global Conference for the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), which took place in Dublin 20-23 April 2022, saw six winners of this year’s SITE Crystal Awards announced. The Crystal Awards Gala night, 21 April, has been described as the ‘Oscars’ of the incentive travel industry.
This year’s recipients were named winners for their incentive programmes that took place during one of the most difficult periods for the incentive travel industry.
US-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Company was the only pre-pandemic programme recognised as an award recipient. Each of the other five winners earned their awards for programmes that took place virtually, or were some of the first in-person trips to take place after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kevin Edmunds, president of SITE, commented: “They (winners) are all leaders in our industry, with the programmes we recognised at this year’s Crystal Awards Gala standing out as shining examples of incentive travel programmes being run smoothly and safely that still achieve the exacting, incredibly high business aims all of us set out to deliver.”
Ellie MacPherson, member of SITE’s international board of directors and chair of the Crystal Awards, added: “By gathering together in-person as a global SITE community to celebrate the achievements of this year’s Crystal Award winners, we are sending a strong signal as to the immense power of incentive travel and its global business impacts.”
Six awards were given this year, in five categories:
- Excellence in Incentive Travel: North America: Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
- Most Creative Solution Deployed at a Time of Crisis: H&R Block and Maritz Global Events
- Most Creative Solution Deployed at a Time of Crisis: Motivation Excellence
- Best Standalone Virtual Celebratory Event: Forever Living Products International
- Best Virtual Motivational Experience: Event Partners Ireland DMC
- Most Impactful Effort Toward Corporate Social Responsibility as Part of an Incentive Programme: HMI Performance Incentives
Nick Woodward-Shaw, vice-president of communications at Forever Living Products International, winner of the ‘Best Standalone Virtual Celebratory Event’, stated: “Winning the 2022 SITE Crystal Award is a great honour for Forever Living, especially at this time of change for the event world. As an industry, we have been in uncharted waters for almost two years and the innovation required to keep incentive events relevant and engaging to our audiences has been a real challenge. This recognition is a result of the creativity, risk, and dedication that defines business events.”
