The Incentive Club - more than 240,000 partners worldwide for meetings, Incentive travel and Incentive Marketing - said 2013 was a very bad year for meetings, incentives and motivation activities. The research involved a global audience of more than 8,700 partners in 57 countries. Compared to previous years, 73% had a drastic reduction for all marketing and promotional activities including conferences, incentive trips, premium travels and promotional campaigns. Cost pressures, fewer delegates and smaller budgets changed the criteria of booking a venue or launching a promotional campaign. Looking forward to 20143 the most important factor influencing decision-makers is uncertainty about the global economic outlook, but 48% of partners feel confident about the sector's prospects and 24% expect to hold a better number of activities this year if venues and suppliers will be flexible enough and they will work more closely with agencies and meeting planners. Next year costs per attendee per day will increase everywhere, and group sizes will decrease in Asia Pacific region and Latin America, where we can preview the highest price inflation. Group sizes are actually expected to increase i n EMEA and North America, where price inflation will be modest during the period. ++++++++ www.theincentiveclub.com ++++++++

INCON Partner Experient has announced exciting news regarding the evolution of the company. Experient has been acquired by Maritz Travel, a global leader in full-service meeting, event and incentive travel programs to corporate clients. As two of the largest and most respected companies in the meetings and events industry, Maritz and Experient are in a position to tailor services that better align with clients’ specific needs. Clients will benefit from deepened industry influence and the ability to serve clients across corporate, association, tradeshow and government markets.

While the names and brand identities of consumer facing brands Aeroplan, Nectar (Chile, Italy and the UK) and Air Miles Middle East remain unchanged, business-to-business brands LMG Insight & Communication and Carlson Marketing now operate under the name Aimia: One single global brand reflecting our position as a global leader in building long-term profitable relationships between brands and their customers. A true Canadian success story, Aimia is now a widely-held, global leader in loyalty management. Having grown through organic and 'green-field' development, international acquisitions, including the 2007 acquisition of Loyalty Management Group in the UK and the 2009 acquisition of US-based Carlson Marketing Worldwide, as well as strategic investments in emerging and adjacent industries, Aimia delivers the Full Suite of Loyalty services and solutions in 20 countries world-wide. The recent acquisition of EIM – Excellence in Motivation, further strengthens Aimia's capabilities and geographic presence in the U.S. EIM is a full-service performance-improvement and business loyalty company that specializes in creating incentive programs and marketing solutions that deliver results for its clients.