by Pádraic Gilligan, Co-founder, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE There are two terminals now at Dublin airport as annual passenger numbers rush headlong towards a controversial 40m. Like many “legacy” airports, it’s a sprawling campus, with extensions, new wings, spurs and satellites added over the years to deal with the dramatic exponential growth. If… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Co-founder, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE For many years now, the Incentive Travel Index (ITI) has been unveiling fascinating insights into the evolving landscape of incentive travel, shedding light on its current state, underlying motivations, and potential future trends. Traditionally, its annual report has focused on core themes such as industry… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Founder, SoolNua Marketing & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE Incentive Travel Research In the latest Incentive Travel Index1, buyers once again highlighted their preference for “new destinations not used before” as the top choice for future incentive programs, a trend that mirrors the results from 2023. This preference isn’t just a fleeting fancy—it… Read more »
Pádraic Gilligan discusses the value of learning sales techniques from different industries and emphasizes transparency in business practices, inspired by the ethical approach of Portuguese clothing brand ISTO. He advocates for open and transparent operations in incentive travel and proposes “Factourism” as an innovative tourism trend, enhancing visitor experiences through factory tours.
Incentive travel professionals should adopt a consultancy approach, addressing critical issues like sustainability, to lead the industry forward and align with evolving stakeholder expectations and corporate practices.
by Pádraic Gilligan, Founder, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE “To infinity and beyond” was a saying that Didier often used during his tenure as CEO of SITE when I served as his CMO. It’s half quoted in his last post on Facebook, from Christmas day, 2023 when he says “Merry Christmas to all my… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Founder, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE Recent research from McKinsey into the way we travel now is crammed with exciting, actionable insights for organisers of incentive travel programs. While the McKinsey research focuses on leisure, the trends here tend to replicate themselves in incentive travel as, after all, the travel reward… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Founder, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE This post explores the “Growing Up in Ireland” study, highlighting how travel is the top aspiration among 13-year-olds, especially girls and those from higher-income families. It underscores the importance of travel experiences and offers insights for incentive travel professionals on gender and socio-economic trends. Growing… Read more »
Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE Recently I posted on sustainability and incentive travel concluding that current definitions / understandings of each rendered them as irreconcilable opposites – sustainability was “limiting”, requiring restraint, reduced consumption, thoughtful, conscientious behaviour while a travel reward was sans frontiers and sans souci, suggesting freedom, extravagance,… Read more »
Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE Conversations at IMEX, Frankfurt, May 2024 In a recent session at IMEX Frankfurt, I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion with fellow business events professionals Irina Graf (The MICE Blog), Gregory Baur (Zurich Convention Bureau) and Marvin Zemp (Luzern Convention Bureau). The… Read more »