Smart Meetings webinar panelists share strategies for maximizing value without maximizing budgets
Editor’s note: This summary of the webinar transcript was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
Meeting planners continue to face a familiar challenge. Attendees expect memorable experiences, while organizations tighten budgets and demand greater accountability.
That tension was at the heart of The All-Inclusive Edge, a Smart Meetings webinar moderated by Smart Meetings Vice President and Content Director JT Long, featuring Melissa Daniels, senior global sales
director of Hyatt Inclusive Collection, and Michael Farrell, director of experience development at Van Wagner.
Together, they explored how planners can use all-inclusive destinations, stronger supplier partnerships and intentional experience design to deliver events that leave lasting impressions—and measurable business value.
Rather than focusing on lavish extras, the conversation centered on thoughtful planning, authentic local experiences and collaboration.
Designing Memorable Moments
According to the 2025 Incentive Travel Index, incentive participants increasingly seek unique destinations and authentic experiences, even as budgets remain constrained.
For Farrell, the solution isn’t necessarily spending more—it’s designing experiences with greater purpose.
“We need to be more intentional in how we’re designing our experiences and putting measurement opportunities in place that validate the expense,” he said. Demonstrating return on investment, he added, makes stakeholders more comfortable approving or even expanding event budgets.
Read More: Incentive Travel: Value in Motion
Daniels agreed that meaningful experiences don’t require an overpacked agenda.
“Rather than simply adding activities to fill an agenda, planners need to select one or two memorable, locally relevant moments,” she said.
Whether that’s a chef-led culinary experience, an outdoor adventure or simply unstructured free time to explore a destination, attendees are more likely to remember moments that feel authentic than a schedule filled from morning until night.
As Long noted, attendees often remember the beginning of an event, its emotional high point and the ending—making intentional design far more valuable than constant activity.
How Contracts Can Launch Partnerships
Daniels encouraged planners to view contracts as the beginning of an ongoing partnership rather than a one-time transaction. That starts with clearly communicating business objectives, attendee demographics and organizational priorities before negotiations begin.
When hotels understand what success looks like, they’re better equipped to recommend where budgets should—and shouldn’t—be spent.
Read More: The Four Contract Clauses Every Planner Must Master
She also stressed the importance of defining exactly what “all-inclusive” means within each contract, including restaurant access, premium beverage policies, private event spaces, activities, Wi-Fi, service charges and upgrade costs.
“The strongest programs are really built when that planner and that hotel treat the contract as the beginning of an ongoing partnership,” Daniels said.
Farrell echoed that philosophy, describing successful contracts as documents that create alignment rather than simply transferring risk.
“The best contracts don’t just protect both sides—they create a common goal,” he said.
With weather events, travel disruptions and other uncertainties continuing to affect meetings, transparent communication early in the planning process helps both planners and suppliers respond more effectively when challenges arise.
The Importance of Picking Up the Phone
Although technology has streamlined sourcing, both panelists argued that planners shouldn’t rely solely on RFPs and email.
Farrell encouraged planners to supplement written proposals with direct conversations.
“These things are amazing little devices that we have,” he joked while holding up his phone. “Having conversations gets us much further, much faster.”
Phone calls allow planners to explain attendee expectations, discuss past challenges and identify priorities that may not fit neatly into an RFP.
Daniels offered similar advice from the supplier perspective.
When hotels ask about previous programs, she said, they aren’t looking for criticism of competitors—they’re trying to avoid repeating past mistakes.
Whether that means ensuring shorter wait times, adjusting beverage inventories or preparing staff for a group’s unique preferences, these conversations ultimately help suppliers create better attendee experiences.
Sustainability as a Priority
While sustainability may not always be the first criterion when selecting a destination, Daniels said it has become an increasingly important part of the evaluation process.
Organizations are asking more detailed questions about food waste, energy use, plastics, local sourcing and community impact, particularly when corporate sustainability goals are involved.
Read More: Turning Surplus Into Service: How Food Rescue Strengthens Community and Sustainability
She encouraged planners to look beyond certifications and instead evaluate how hotels genuinely engage with their local communities.
“You can really tell if a hotel is living with their community,” Daniels said.
Farrell expanded the discussion beyond environmental initiatives.
He noted that sustainable event planning also includes transportation logistics, efficient production practices and supporting local economies through meetings and conventions.
Even something as simple as minimizing truck idle time during event production, he said, can reduce both environmental impact and operating costs.
Preparing Attendees Before Travel
International incentive programs often introduce anxiety for travelers who don’t frequently leave the country.
Daniels recommended investing additional time in pre-event communications, including detailed “know before you go” materials covering customs procedures, airport transportation, passport requirements and arrival expectations.
Some attendees travel internationally every month, she noted. Others may be taking their very first overseas trip.
Providing clear information before departure helps reduce uncertainty and allows attendees to begin the program with excitement rather than frustration.
Farrell added that planners should remember many participants may only attend one company event each year.
For those travelers, every interaction—from arrival through departure—shapes their perception of both the event and the organization hosting it.
Destinations Tell Stories, Too
The conversation also explored the growing influence of sports, television and film on destination selection.
Whether inspired by major sporting events like the FIFA World Cup, television series or popular filming locations, attendees increasingly want experiences connected to places they’ve seen on screen.
Rather than simply recreating those moments, Daniels encouraged planners to use them as gateways into local culture.
Movies and sporting events can introduce attendees to regional food, history and community experiences they might never have considered otherwise.
Farrell noted that sports create powerful opportunities for experiential marketing and incentive programming because they naturally build emotional connections and shared memories.
Meaning Matters Most
When asked to share examples of impactful experiences that didn’t require extravagant budgets, both speakers returned to one central idea—emotional connection.
Farrell recalled producing a modest activation for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation featuring intimate video stories from survivors, physicians and researchers. After experiencing the exhibit, one attendee told him she had scheduled her first mammogram after losing her mother to breast cancer decades earlier.
“You don’t have to break the bank to create a meaningful experience,” Farrell said.
Daniels shared a Hyatt event where attendees assembled bicycles and backpacks for local children without knowing the recipients would be present. After the volunteers finished building the gifts, a divider opened and the children entered to choose their new bicycles.
Seeing the children’s reactions transformed what could have been a routine CSR activity into one of the most memorable moments of the event.
As Long concluded, those emotional moments—not fireworks or elaborate productions—are often what attendees carry home long after an event ends.
In today’s environment, creating those meaningful connections may be the greatest competitive advantage an all-inclusive meeting can offer.
