The Australian Business Events Association (ABEA) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) Australia & New Zealand have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) designed to advance research, education, talent development and advocacy within the incentive travel and business events sector.
Under the agreement, the two organisations will partner across six key workstreams: research collaboration, professional development and education programmes, young-leader and mentoring initiatives, mutual advocacy and engagement with destination- and tourism-bodies, joint promotion/membership development, and communication and sector-visibility enhancement.
On the research front, ABEA and SITE will elevate participation in the annual Incentive Travel Index (ITI) to deepen insights into the Australia/New Zealand market — monitoring trends, motivations and outcomes specific to incentive travel.
In the field of education, the collaboration will enhance ABEA’s current professional-development portfolio by providing webinars, conference materials, and access to SITE’s globally recognized Certified Incentive Specialist (CIS) and Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP) programs.
The partnership places a strong emphasis on mentoring and developing young leaders: To create new career paths and improve succession planning throughout the business-events ecosystem, SITE’s global Young Leaders cohort will link up with ABEA’s Peer XChange network. From an advocacy perspective, the MoU aligns the voice of incentive travel with larger business-events and visitor-economy frameworks by collaborating with organizations like Tourism Australia through the Incentive Roundtable.
ABEA Chief Executive Melissa Brown discussed the partnership, saying: “ABEA will provide members with real value through this partnership while luring and nurturing the next generation of talent in our industry.” It’s about making an impact where it counts most: in terms of industry results, visibility, and capability. “This agreement will help to develop specialist capabilities and give emerging talent clear pathways into our profession,” said Tanya Wick, president of SITE Australia & NZ Chapter. It’s a useful step that links vital information and data with the demands of the ANZ market.
