The deserving winners of the 2023 Distinctive Achievement Awards presented by Association Conventions & Facilities magazine have met or exceeded the high standards that association meeting planners demand today.

As health scares, mass shootings and natural disasters continue to saturate the headlines, meeting and event planners are being tasked with preparing for a host of issues to keep attendees safe.

These industry-leading destinations earn their way atop the list of planners nationwide.

The deserving winners of the 2022 Distinctive Achievement Awards have met or exceeded the high standards that association meeting planners demand today.

Meeting planners already had a multitude of responsibilities that needed to be fulfilled promptly and efficiently, but the COVID-19 pandemic added an entirely new dimension that demands unparalleled flexibility.

As the COVID-19 pandemic’s stranglehold on the meetings and incentives industry wanes, these destinations offer attractive alternatives for planners seeking to host smaller, face-to-face or hybrid meetings.

Familiarization or FAM trips allow meeting planners to visit a destination and determine if it’s a good fit for future conferences or other events.

No issue is more important to association conventions and trade shows than the safety and security of staff and attendees. Yet, experts say, too many associations are woefully underprepared for catastrophic incidents such as a terrorist attack, violent protest, natural disaster or medical emergency.

New or recently renovated convention center hotels have seen an increase in overall group business, a result of favorable macroeconomic trends that are currently boosting budgets for corporate events.

We spoke with five meeting planners and five hotel sales staffers to learn what lies at the core of this relationship and what it takes to make it work.