employers must make sound investments in key staff in order to retain top talent and secure the bottom line. Far from being a perk reserved for executives, meeting and performance incentive travel provides valuable development and networking opportunities for employees at all levels.


• Non-cash incentives are two to three times more effective at motivating employee performance, and companies spend less on incentive travel than on cash compensation to achieve exceptional productivity from employees.


• Meetings and events are strategic tools that deepen employee relationships and contribute to the overall health of companies. A 5% increase in employee retention can generate a 25% to 85% increase in profitability.


• Companies with satisfied employees generate better overall returns in the stock market, with firms on the list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” generating up to five times as much return as their competitors.


“Tradeshows, conventions, and


corporate gatherings - and the business travelers they attract - fill airline seats, hotel rooms, and restaurants, and bring customers to local merchants and service providers. These tourism jobs provide a living for millions of hard-working men and women who make the tourism industry one of America’s largest economic sectors.” -U.S. Representative Shelley Berkley “Tough times are a great time to renew


trust. When customers and employees see the leadership team standing front and center and delivering the message, it demonstrates that management cares about them and considers them essential


www.MidwestMeetings.com


to weathering the storm. Canceling such meetings, except when there are no other alternatives, sends the message that employees, and even vendors and customers, are expendable.” -John Baldoni, author/publisher, Harvard Business Publishing’s Leadership Matters “Meetings and events are essential to motivating sales forces, rewarding high performers, and attracting top talent. Meetings and events are responsible for 15% of all travel in America, create more than $100 billion in spending annually, generate millions of American jobs, and provide $16 billion in tax revenue. The travel and tourism industry is made up of a lot of mom-and-pop operations and low-income earners who don’t have the resources to combat a prolonged recession. We should be thinking of ways to help this industry, not undermine it.” -Tom Donohue, president/CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Meetings and events are not the


problem; they are part of the solution to re-energize our economy and protect jobs and communities everywhere.” -Bruce MacMillan, president/CEO, Meeting Professionals International “Motivational events that reward


and recognize top performers are just as important in tough economic times, if not more so, than in good. Utilized properly (and sensitively), these events can literally help companies increase sales and profits and help retain their very best people.” -Brenda Anderson, CEO, Society of Incentive Travel Executives “Travel is a great economic stimulus.


We can’t have it both ways. We can’t say we want to create jobs and stimulate the economy and, at the same time, discourage people from traveling.” -Bill Marriott, chairman/CEO, Marriott International


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