Industry associations continue to create a bevy of specialty certifications for meeting planners, the most recent one being the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence’s new Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP) certification, aimed at midlevel planners and supplier-side managers. It is being launched at IMEX Frankfurt, with the first test to be held on May 14.

Candidates must complete a two-hour exam on topics including budgets, program design and delivery, operations, and sustainability. The SITE Foundation will also offer online courses and testing at other industry events and by local SITE chapters.

The CITP will be awarded to individuals with a minimum of five years of industry experience who have taken at least 40 hours of continuing professional education, 25 percent of which was provided by SITE. For more information: visit siteglobal.com/page/certified-incentive-travel-professional.

Other niched certifications include the Sustainable Event Professional Certificate Program by the Events Industry Council, which was offered preceding last November’s CMP Conclave. As part of the program, the participants customize a road map for their own sustainable event. No date has been set yet for the 2018 test.

Meeting Professionals International also has the Sustainable Meeting Professional Certificate course, which focuses on the ISO 20121 and APEX/ASTM sustainability standards; how to plan an event with the required criteria for GRI EOSS reporting; and meeting the criteria for SMPP® 3rd party Certification by iCompli.This certification is available online for members and nonmembers.

MPI offers several other specialized certificate programs, including the Going Local Certificate, which focuses on taking advantage of a destination and creating a sense of place for your event; the Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate, for navigating pharmaceutical and biotech meeting regulations, laws and compliance; and a Meetings & Events at Sea certificate in partnership with Cruise Lines International Association. For more information on these programs visit the MPI website.

The Professional Convention Management Association offers the Digital Event Strategist (DES) certification through its Digital Experience Institute (DEI). The program is focused on the planning, production and measurement of live-streamed and digital events. For more, visit the DEI website.