Regina Baraban

With 70,000 sf of indoor meeting space and 29,000 sf of outdoor meeting space, TradeWinds Resort is well-suited for groups of all sizes. Said to be the largest meetings-focused resort on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the 734-room resort is located on 40 oceanside acres along St. Pete Beach in two adjacent properties: Island Grand Beach Resort and RumFish Beach Resort.

Intentional, experience-driven event design is no longer an aspirational trend—it’s the new normal for creating memorable meetings. And sensory-driven design is an essential part of the picture, according to ETHOS Event Collective. This means engaging all five senses: deliberately layering sight, sound, taste, smell and touch into the event environment in ways that enhance and support the experience.

The latest SITE Pulse Survey, conducted between March 25  and April 6 with 193 respondents across four global regions, reveals a snapshot of how incentive travel professionals are responding to current geopolitical dynamics. The most striking finding is the consistent and significant decline in interest in the Gulf States and Northern Africa across all respondent groups. Canada emerged as the clearest winner in incentive travel planning.