Building and bridging cultures brought to life through new session formats, destination partnerships, and much more
ISTANBUL-— The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) Global Conference drew to a close yesterday, after several packed days of networking, education sessions, destination immersion, and more adventures across Istanbul, Türkiye.
This year’s Global Conference, a staple in SITE’s annual events calendar, brought nearly 500 incentive travel professionals to Istanbul to connect, learn, discover and share new trends and timely topics related to incentive travel.
This year’s event also featured several new session formats, including a destination pitch competition, a destination video showdown, and a crowd-sourced breakout session on the last day of the conference that focus on shifting workplace and qualifier demographics.
“I’m so eager about the continued growth and development SITE brings, not only to our community but to the incentive travel industry and to the business world at large,” commented SITE CEO Annette Gregg. “Global Conference is one of SITE’s biggest activations each year and there have been so many special memories and connections made here in Istanbul these past several days. It’s truly a gathering we will never forget!”
Featured keynotes at this year’s Global Conference included an inspiring session delivered on Tuesday by Turkish entrepreneur Gamze Cizreli, and a Wednesday address by College of Extraordinary Experiences founder and experiential design expert Claus Raasted.
Other highlights of this year’s Global Conference included a dazzling Crystal Awards ceremony, held at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski, and specially designed destination immersion sessions to close out Global Conference by bringing delegates into the heart of Istanbul’s buzziest attractions.
“Our destination shines as one where East meets West catering perfectly to all incentive travel qualifers,” said SITE International Board of Directors and local host committee member Hasan Dinc. “It has been a dream to welcome our industry colleagues to our city, and to treat them to such a fantastic conference with Turkish hospitality on full display.”
SITE extends its thanks to the full host committee for making this year’s Global Conference possible. Many DMCs banded together under the collective banner of SITE Türkiye to support this year’s event, including: Bluechip, ODS, Prolonge, Stimpol, Tekser, Coordinator, MEPTUR, Universal & DMC.
Onsite programming drew to a close midday with the announcement of the 2025 SITE Global Conference destination, with next year’s gathering set to take place March 3-6 in Tulum, Mexico.
