Castle recently attended its first in-person industry networking event in more than 15 months. The Global Meeting and Incentive Travel Exchange (GMITE) was hosted at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, Arizona. Since it was the first time many buyers and suppliers came back together, everyone in attendance was incredibly happy to be face-to-face with their peers again!
Here are three major takeaways from the event:
1. Meeting professionals are beyond excited for the return of live events. We’ve all spent months preparing for this day, brainstorming protocols and tactics to get our clients back to in-person events safely.
2. The return to live events is here! While some destinations are further along in their reopening plans than others, the overall consensus is that Q4 of 2021 is the big return we’ve all been waiting for. Planners and suppliers all agreed that the floodgates will open in September & October.
3. Compression is the name of the game and looks to be the next major challenge to overcome in the industry. As so many programs from 2020 and the first half of 2021 rebooked into 2022 & 2023, limited availability, from regularly scheduled bookings in those years, has become even more so.
Here at Castle, we’ve missed seeing our clients and colleagues face-to-face and are looking forward to supporting their return to live events!
