Events industry professionals gathered at the Pelican Club in Jupiter, Fla., on April 7 for Global Meetings Industry Day, with presentations from Florida Power & Light and 4ocean on sustainability, and from Garden of Life on health and wellness. The venue itself practices sustainability by sourcing food items from local vendors, freezing leftovers for smoothies or sauces, using biodegradable straws and doing a monthly beach cleanup.
4ocean gave everyone a bracelet made from recycled materials that fund the removal of trash from the oceans. With operations in Bali, Haiti, Guatemala, Hawaii and Florida, the organization was able to remove more than 8 million pounds of trash from oceans and coastlines around the world in 2021. Brenton Schulze, director of sales at 4ocean, highlighted that minor changes like using reusable water bottles does make a difference.
"We need to make small, incremental changes over time to enact monumental change," he said. "Those small acts add up."
This year, GMID celebrated the return to in-person meetings both globally and locally. In the Palm Beaches, events reached 50 percent of 2019 levels in 2021, and the destination anticipates 75 to 85 percent recovery of groups activity in 2022. Recovery efforts include Between-the-Sessions, a marketing campaign launched last year to incorporate the local culture into meetings.
"Meeting face-to-face is irreplaceable. It's incredibly important," said Kelly Cavers, senior vice president of group sales and services of Discover The Palm Beaches. "It means business. It fosters personal connections. It drives positive business outcomes and it develops strong communities."
Palm Beach County is seeing a return not only of meetings and events, but also incentive travel.
"People want to motivate their employees… So this is a perfect way to travel to a destination that's easily accessible and can create that one-of-a-kind experience," said Cavers.
Recent news from the Palm Beaches includes the $100 million transformation of PGA National Resort and the ongoing $200 million renovation of The Boca Raton. PGA National now offers two new restaurants, upgraded guest rooms, an updated lobby and two new golf courses. The Boca Raton completely renovated the 294-room Cloister, one of five distinct hotels on the property. The hotel also added a pool club with three pools, waterslides, cabanas and a bar. Still to come later this year are new restaurants and retail outlets.
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