Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/jnr-kim-hester-global-planner-award-2019/ --- description: Kim Hester's recognition at Connection 2019 in Cancun highlighted the planner relationships and destination expertise behind incentive travel. title: JNR's Kim Hester received Global DMC Partners' 2019 planner award image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/jnr-s-kim-hester-received-global-dmc-partners-2019-planner-award-e47768961c6d249de8d57fa6f81b39ce.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) # JNR's Kim Hester received Global DMC Partners' 2019 planner award Kim Hester's recognition at Connection 2019 in Cancun highlighted the planner relationships and destination expertise behind incentive travel. By [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) August 29, 2019 2 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fjnr-kim-hester-global-planner-award-2019%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=JNR%27s+Kim+Hester+received+Global+DMC+Partners%27+2019+planner+award&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fjnr-kim-hester-global-planner-award-2019%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=JNR%27s+Kim+Hester+received+Global+DMC+Partners%27+2019+planner+award+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fjnr-kim-hester-global-planner-award-2019%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Six panelists seated on a stage beneath a Global DMC Partners sign](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/jnr-s-kim-hester-received-global-dmc-partners-2019-planner-award-six-w1051.webp) A panel discussion at Global DMC Partners' Connection 2019 in Cancun. Photograph distributed with the organizer's event announcement. Photo: Global DMC Partners via EXHIBITOR [Global DMC Partners](https://giftcard.news/company/global-dmc-partners/) named [JNR Incorporated](https://giftcard.news/company/jnr/)'s [Kim Hester](https://giftcard.news/person/kim-hester/) its 2019 Global Planner of the Year at its Connection gathering in Cancun. The organizer reported the recognition on August 29, following the August 22-25 event. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Hester also took part in a panel on cooperation between destination-management companies and planners. Her participation connected the award with a practical theme of the meeting: how different suppliers and planning teams can coordinate the experience they deliver to clients. ## An award rooted in professional relationships Global DMC Partners said its client-award selections considered loyalty, contributions to the network's development and involvement in the meetings and incentive industry. The gathering combined professional sessions with individual appointments and opportunities to explore Cancun as an event destination. [Tropical Incentives DMC](https://giftcard.news/company/tropical-incentives-dmc/) and [Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach](https://giftcard.news/company/grand-fiesta-americana-coral-beach/) hosted the meeting, bringing local destination knowledge into the experience alongside the wider network's education and business program. For an incentive planner, those relationships connect the client's brief with the services available in a particular destination. Accommodation, transfers, activities and the handling of changes may involve different businesses, yet participants experience them as one trip. ## Turning destination knowledge into a coordinated reward A destination-management company contributes local understanding and delivery connections. The planner brings the client's audience, priorities and expectations. Their ability to work together affects how consistently the program can be assembled and communicated. That is why the discussion in which Hester participated sits naturally beside the award. The recognition concerned a professional relationship within the supply chain, while the panel addressed how that relationship functions in day-to-day work. For JNR, Hester's involvement placed its incentive-travel business within that exchange between planners and destination specialists. It illustrated a part of reward delivery that recipients may rarely see: the collaboration required before the itinerary becomes a participant experience. The 2019 announcement recognized Hester at an event designed to develop those connections. Read together, the award and her panel participation tell a specific story about the work behind an incentive trip: selecting local expertise, coordinating responsibilities and keeping the client's program coherent across multiple providers. ## In this article ### Companies * [Global DMC Partners](https://giftcard.news/company/global-dmc-partners/) * [Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach](https://giftcard.news/company/grand-fiesta-americana-coral-beach/) * [JNR](https://giftcard.news/company/jnr/) * [Tropical Incentives DMC](https://giftcard.news/company/tropical-incentives-dmc/) ### People * [Kim Hester](https://giftcard.news/person/kim-hester/) ### Sources and documents * [\[S01\] EXHIBITOR: Global DMC Partners' announcement](https://www.exhibitoronline.com/news/article.asp?ID=19689&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — EXHIBITOR Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fjnr-kim-hester-global-planner-award-2019%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=JNR%27s+Kim+Hester+received+Global+DMC+Partners%27+2019+planner+award&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fjnr-kim-hester-global-planner-award-2019%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=JNR%27s+Kim+Hester+received+Global+DMC+Partners%27+2019+planner+award+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fjnr-kim-hester-global-planner-award-2019%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) Journalist — Rewards & Loyalty Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [SOMPO Himawari links instant reward draws to giftee’s gift redemption platform](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/sompo-himawari-giftee-instant-reward-draws/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) October 26, 2026 4 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [TOUMEI moves digital-gift shareholder rewards to four annual rounds](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/toumei-digital-gift-shareholder-rewards-four-annual-rounds/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) October 15, 2026 3 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [IDOM schedules final generic digital-gift award for November 2027](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/idom-generic-digital-gift-shareholder-programme-final-award-2027/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) October 14, 2026 2 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#logo"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/","correctionsPolicy":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website","url":"https://giftcard.news/","name":"Gift Card News","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://giftcard.news/search/?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/#person","name":"Maya Bennett","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/","description":"Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Rewards & Loyalty","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp","width":1254,"height":1254,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Maya Bennett editorial profile.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Illustrated portrait for Maya Bennett, a Gift Card News editorial pen name","creditText":"Gift Card News / AI-generated illustration"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/jnr-s-kim-hester-received-global-dmc-partners-2019-planner-award-six.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/jnr-s-kim-hester-received-global-dmc-partners-2019-planner-award-six.webp","width":1051,"height":762,"caption":"A panel discussion at Global DMC Partners' Connection 2019 in Cancun. 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