Make the Most of Your Destination

Roughly half of business travelers say they want local cultural experiences to be a part of their meeting experience, according to research from Mintel. To meet this demand, it’s easy enough for planners to throw some information about the destination into orientation materials—museum this, Restaurant Row that.

But to make these cultural experiences more meaningful, planners can look for ways to incorporate local experiences into their overall agenda. We’ve rounded up ideas from the experts, including North American destination marketing organizations and convention and visitors bureaus, along with Marriott Bonvoy properties.

• Start the relationship from Day 1. “During familiarization trips, we’ve coordinated event safety and security training with Tampa Police Department representatives hosted in their downtown command center,” says Adam DePiro, vice president of convention sales at Visit Tampa Bay. Planting seeds for programming ideas on familiarization trips can help you get ahead of the game.
• Let the destination lead your team-building activities. “We partner with Mardi Gras World, the local company that designs and produces all the big Mardi Gras floats, to incorporate Mardi Gras experiences for groups,” says Emily Liuzza, complex director of marketing at New Orleans Marriott, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, and New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District. “This can include hosting events in their den around all the big floats to groups renting floats and having their own Mardi Gras parade downtown. We can also close off streets, and groups can ‘second-line’ [parade] with a live jazz band leading the way to an off-site venue in the French Quarter or someplace within walking distance downtown.” Making a destination-specific activity part of your kickoff can root the entire event in both time and place.
• Contribute to the community. “Many native plants that have been added are varieties that once thrived in our region but have declined due to development and the introduction of foreign plants,” says Jaydene Kanekoa, senior marketing manager at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. “In 2022, our Activities and Culture team activated the Ho’okupu Initiative. In Hawaiian, Ho’okupu translates to an offering, a tribute, or to cause growth. This program is aimed toward planting endangered, endemic Hawaiian plants across our beachfront location while removing invasive species.” Getting attendees to jump into the community with a joint activity—in this example, weeding and planting to preserve natural habitats—builds team bonds and adds meaning to multiday events.

• Location-hop, topic-hop. “New Orleans is known for its cuisine,” Liuzza says. “Groups will frequently do dine-arounds one night at the various restaurants around the two hotels. Sometimes they will do a second line out of the hotel to start the dine-arounds.” Add variety to round-robin discussions by adding a change of location to each new topic of discussion: At the first location, attendees focus on breaking the ice. At the second, they focus on dissecting a shared problem that unites the attendees. At the third, they focus on finding solutions.
• Let the location anchor group goals. “We offer groups the opportunity to ‘adopt a native plant or tree,’” Kanekoa says. “Working with our experts, groups can purchase a native plant or tree from our local nursery, and we curate a special planting ceremony where attendees may witness or assist with planting the seedling on property. This is typically accompanied by an ‘oli [Hawaiian chant].” Planting native flora during a goal-setting session can add a sense of responsibility to goals. When attendees waver in their action plans toward goal achievement, they’ll have a place on terra firma to think about, anchoring goals that might otherwise seem abstract.
• Bring in local experts. Take a cue from your peers: When JW Marriott Tampa Water Street hosted the 2021 Meeting Professionals International Thought Leaders Summit, Tampa Bay itself played a critical role. “Aligned with MPI’s five critical conversation topics, Visit Tampa Bay identified and secured local subject matter experts,” DePiro says. In 2022, the Homegrown: Marriott Hawai’i & French Polynesia’s Operations Conference brought in knowledgeable experts to participate in panel discussions, including farmers, distributors, and cultural practitioners.
• Follow the locals’ lead in collaboration. “Chef Jayson has been with the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa for 37 years,” Kanekoa says. “His decades-long tenure at the resort reflects his commitment to his craft and strong bond with local growers.” Meetings are all about collaboration—asking a venue coordinator to share how collaboration played a critical behind-the-scenes role in the evolution of the event (say, by talking with the chef about their relationships with local growers) can drive that point home.
• Get local personalities involved. Aligning your meeting’s values with the values of local stars adds a punch to your event. For example, Tampa Bay is known for its inclusive mindset, as evidenced by the election of Mayor Jane Castor, the first openly gay mayor of Tampa—and a mayor who greets various conventioneers in person. Turning to local makers can serve a similar purpose: Portland, Oregon’s My People’s Market hosts the sale of goods of more than 100 diverse local entrepreneurs. “One service our organization can offer to planners meeting in Portland is the opportunity to create a mini My People’s Market as a part of the meetings and convention experience, offering the chance to engage directly with our creative community right on the conference room floor,” says Angela Nelson, vice president of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Travel Portland.