Incentive travel

What is incentive travel?

Businesses use incentive travel to reward their best performers with a vacation or trip paid for by the firm.  Firms utilize incentives to reward high performers or to promote sales through non-direct employee channels including insurance agents, car dealers, and direct sellers. 

The primary form of incentive is cash bonuses or employee advancement promotion rewards.   As an alternative to traditional rewards programs, incentive travel strives to improve employee performance and engagement while also advancing corporate objectives.  Incentive travel is offered to the best employees, and their spouses or families.  It might take the form of a group trip or an individual getaway.  Trips can be a mix of recreational and professional development activities.

As a bonus, a well-planned incentive trip can even be a tax deduction.  Consulting with the organization’s accountant can help identify if this event can be tax-deductible.

.  Plus, Incentive travel programs are a smart investment that boosts productivity, builds loyalty, and motivates your top performers — a solution where businesses and their employees benefit.

Organizations and employees will benefit in different ways.

-For organizations receive gains in performance and productivity, especially among mid-level performers. Mid-level achievers may reach the top.  According to the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF), the potential performance gains from your "middle 80%" of personnel are likely to be greater than those from your "top 10%." The incremental productivity generates ROI when a company successfully changes these mid-level individuals toward greater rather than lower performance.

-It creates organizational loyalty because employees feel appreciated.  Incentive travel is a type of incentive and recognition program intended to stimulate as well as thank performers who meet the program's challenges.  Connection and engagement are frequently fueled by appreciation. 

For the employee, lasting memories of a lifetime and relationships are stronger.  Traveling with your co-workers, friends, and family creates a lasting memory that is intimately linked to achievement.  Group travel frequently allows high achievers to have great interactions with the host organization's leaders and other top achievers, allowing them to form important ties.  A private excursion as a group to see the Tulum pyramids, a trip to the Alaska Glaciers, or a pool volleyball game with the CEO is more likely for the participants to be remembered than how they spent their last bonus or merit.  According to studies, these long-lasting memories stimulate sustained accomplishment.  

A more effective support system is achieved when organizations allow wives or families to participate in travel programs, it aids the achiever in developing a support network back home.  Families understand the achiever's motivation and support their efforts when they benefit from it as well.

There are many variations of the incentive program to drive achievement at multiple levels.  A high achiever might take a long-distance, "once-in-a-lifetime" excursion, whereas lower tiers might take shorter travels closer to home.  Or a single trip so that top earners travel first class, receive suite upgrades, or attend an entirely exclusive event with management.  Most recently, organizations are increasingly opting for individual incentive travel choices, in which achievers can select between a pre-planned vacation or a travel voucher that can be used to build a customized trip.

Combine travel with business provides executives with dedicated events and top performers access to leadership through specially curated training events.

How to create or establish an incentive program in your organization?

-First, connect with an incentive travel expert.   Organizations are tempted to designate an internal employee to plan and manage the campaign.  This individual or designed office person is not versed in all the travel requirements and destinations.  He or She can easily get overwhelmed reducing the possibility of the intended success. 

Planning and Implementing:

1. Set objectives. Outline your program's objectives, including Return on Investment.
2. Create a list of incentives and rules. The rewards should be motivating and align with the objectives. 
3. The best incentive programs include a launch strategy that clearly defines objectives, rules, and rewards, as well as an ongoing communication campaign and tracking system to keep performers informed of their progress.  Communications remind the audience pool about the incentive, and tracking systems let your audience know where they stand in the running for the incentive, ensuring that they continue to perform to meet the goals you have set.
4. The program's bottom line is the delivery of the reward, which is presented professionally. Each earner has worked hard to earn the reward, and they should be rewarded in a way that shows the appropriate level of appreciation.  Incentive professionals plan the overall attendee experience from the moment they leave their home until they return home.  A poorly executed incentive trip creates a negative attendee experience and can be demotivating – the opposite effect of the trip's goal.

Ideas for Incentive Travel

-Spa escapes

-Quick Weekend Escapes

-Local or Regional Locations

-River cruise or Ocean cruise.  Boat charter is possible depending on the size of the event

Top Destinations

• Italy – Umbria & Puglia
• Ireland – Castles or Golf outings
• Portugal – Beautiful sceneries and cost-effective
• Croatia - interesting mix of coastal activities with the Adriatic Sea
• Iceland – northern lights and geothermal baths
• Mexico - Los Cabos or Cancun exiting close to home
• Caribbean –from Jamaica, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and more
• Africa – safaris
• Australia or New Zealand
• Peru – Machu Pichu
• Malaysia
• South Pacific – Fiji or Bora Bora
• Hawaii – Oahu or Maui
• Alaska - Anchorage or Denali
• USA – Las Vegas, National Parks, Orlando, New Orleans, or NYC

Incentive Travel Experts

Because organizations may only want to reward only top performers or may want to reward the entire team.  Based on the option selected putting all together can be complex.  Depending on the size of the business or how large the incentive benefit is expected, you will need help putting it all together. 

There are so many parts and coordination planning for a successful event.  Every resort, cruise line, hotel, and travel organization either governmental or private has programs designed to attract businesses to their facilities or destinations.  They even have specific departments ready to assist when booking large groups.  They have a dedicated team that is the link with the destination with direct access to rooms, conferences, food, and activities available for your event. 

Organizations use incentive travel experts to help design, plan, manage and follow up the travel event.  Incentive travel experts are travel agents specializing in providing these types of services.  Travel experts know what is required, who to contact, and provide expert advice on what destination or cruise better fits the goals or objectives of the business.

Cruise Planners – Grandmastertravel LLC specialize in many categories of travel including incentive travel. 

Specific services are:

-Initial meeting with the organization leader to discover the objectives of the event.  Provide initial recommendations of destinations

-Submit several recommendations in writing of specific destinations or travel options; Up to 3 locations are provided

-After a location is decided, the agency with the business leader signs agreement describing roles and responsibilities.

-The agency will contact the selected destination resort or cruise line to connect with the group department. 

-The agency will negotiate for rooms/cabins, conference rooms, amenities, and perks based on expected attendance and the schedule of events provided by the business.

-Collect the names and personal information of all the attendees.  Information may be needed, including attendees’ specific requirements and needs.

-book package for each party

-reserve conference location and restaurants for the entire group, if required

-manage all the bookings and collect payments

-coordinate with the destination resort or cruise line on events requirements

-onsite visit, if required

-research location excursions and activities for the group

-Provide travel insurance options

-Track payments and other miscellaneous items

Much more…