Back in 1994, five international tourist boards pooled their marketing budgets and sponsored a mini-trade show for incentive buyers. The roster of participating National Tourist Boards (NTBs) changes slightly from year to year, but the event itself, called Trailblazers, is still going strong more than a decade later. It has proven to be a perfect example of the power of partnerships -- even among organizations that are competitors. "It would be a tremendous burden for any one of the tourist boards to do this type of event on its own, but together we are able to put together a meaningful program that is beneficial to the sponsors, the exhibitors, and the attendees," says Anna Case, event coordinator for the Trailblazers event held most recently in London in June of 2003.
Six NTBs -- Britain, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, and Monaco -- sponsored the 2003 event. The larger budget generated by the partnership enables the event to be organized like an actual incentive program, but the schedule also includes several marketplace sessions during which supplier-partners such as hoteliers, DMCs, and the NTBs themselves can promote their products and services to the invited buyers during scheduled appointments.
The 70 Trailblazer attendees picked up lots of ideas for future incentive programs. During the two-day marketplace, each buyer met with representatives from more than half of the 68 suppliers from the six sponsoring countries. But in between the fact-finding and networking, the group enjoyed an incentive-caliber James Bond-themed kickoff party that featured a performance by Shirley Bassey, cocktails on the London Eye -- a large Ferris wheel with gondolas that can hold up to 20 passengers -- a dinner cruise on the Thames, and a spectacular black-tie gala at Hampton Court Palace capped by a fireworks display and a parade by the palace guard's brass band. Afterwards, many of the attendees enjoyed a post-fam trip to Edinburgh on the Orient Express. "The show was exceptionally well organized," says Andrea Michaels, president of Extraordinary Events, a Los Angeles-based production company. "I was very glad to have met everyone who gave me so much information. The events were spectacular."