The Brief (and My Initial Panic)
I was asked to write a piece for marketing and, honestly, my first reaction was, I’m too busy for this.
My second reaction was, what does a guy from Glasgow know about an American tradition built on turkey, gratitude, and pies the size of small children?
But Clare in Marketing doesn’t negotiate and a deadline is a deadline, so off I went down a Thanksgiving rabbit hole.
And the more I read on the history of it, the more I realised something: Thanksgiving and the world of incentives share far more DNA than you’d think.
In fact, this little exercise made me question everything.
Where Thanksgiving Meets Incentive Travel
If you’d asked me last week, “What industry are you in?” I’d have said the events industry.
But now? Now I think I’d have to say the hospitality industry.
Yes, it’s still events. Yes, there are still spreadsheets, logistics and the obligatory last-minute curveball. But in this incentive game, our real job is designing the feels. And feelings don’t come from a transaction. They come from care, craft, surprise, generosity, and going beyond what’s expected. It’s the ability to create moments that feel personal rather than pre-packaged. It’s the difference between delivering an event and creating an experience people actually connect with.
Thanksgiving in this context makes perfect sense.
The Original Thanksgiving: A Lesson in Connection
The original Thanksgiving in the 1600s wasn’t the glossy feast we see today. It was a moment of shared survival, gratitude, and community, with people coming together after hardship to celebrate, connect, and acknowledge each other.
Strip away the pilgrim hats and pumpkin everything, and at the core its essentially:
• Gather people.
• Show appreciation.
• Create a moment worth remembering.
And that’s exactly what incentive travel is about, well in my eyes anyway.
Why It Matters Today
Every programme we design is built around bringing people together, celebrating achievement, strengthening relationships, and creating experiences that make people feel valued.
Thanksgiving has become an annual reminder to pause, appreciate, and connect.
It’s something I might even bring to the Lawson household, though I’d call it something else, like ‘Scran-giving’…….You can take the boy out of Glasgow and all that. Actually, might need to trademark that!
Scran (noun): food. Any kind. Usually a lot of it.
Anyhoo, incentives are the business-world equivalent: a modern tradition where teams gather, share, grow, and return home recharged with stories and memories … Okay, not always recharged, but definitely with stories. And if we’ve done our jobs right, those stories become memories that last far beyond the flight home.
Proudly Scottish (and Proudly Hospitable)
I count myself pretty lucky to work in this industry, and as a Scotsman I’m fiercely proud to promote my wee corner of the world. Hospitality is basically a competitive sport here. We’ve been handing out food, music, stories and fireside warmth for centuries, long before pumpkin spice lattes staged their global takeover.
And it’s genuinely special watching groups experience that spirit in real time.
Which, to be honest, might also explain why I feel genuinely bad, borderline guilty, whenever it rains and we’ve got groups in.
DM me if you feel the same way…
Because at the end of the day, no matter the destination, the weather, or the brief, the purpose stays the same:
Bring people together in a way that matters.
Happy Thanksgiving or indeed happy Scran-giving…..
