Perks and benefits are what draw employees to an incentive travel company. The salary might be their first contact, but the benefits will be part of the occupation that will lead them to accept the opportunity to work within a company.

Travel incentives are rewards given to employees or a team for reaching a goal or completing a task of high importance set by management within the company. This reward is all expenses paid for travel to a specific destination.

Incentive travel rewards are a method of motivating the staff to be more productive. These incentives will increase sales and will ensure that both the individual and the company grow.

What is Incentive Travel?

Incentive travel is a reward system where employees will be rewarded with a travel experience to a beautiful destination. These employees will receive this incentive when they achieve or complete a set task or goal. The company managers or leaders will set these goals and tasks.

There are many reasons for using incentive travel within the company. This will boost sales and productivity, and the incentive can also improve the work culture and increase employee retention. The employees will feel validated and appreciated for the hard work and time they provide for the company.

What Are Different Incentive Programs

Incentive programs can look different and adjusting it to fit the company’s values and goals are essential. These incentives will allow the company to move towards the goals they have set to accomplish within a specific time. The key is to determine which incentive program will work best for the company and its employees.

Companies have the option to decide between monetary and non-monetary incentive programs. Monetary incentive programs are a financial benefit that employees receive when they complete a task. Some of these incentives can include a bonus or performance-based increases.

Non-monetary incentives include some days off or a certain period of working from home as a reward for achieving a goal. Another incentive within the nonmonetary incentive programs is a travel program. In this program, employees have the option to travel domestically or internationally to a destination to enjoy a holiday courtesy of the company.

Incentive Awards & Trips For Employees

An incentive travel program can take time to plan and incorporate within a company incentive plan. This however can be used as a once-a-year occurrence that will motivate the team and employees to work towards the goals that have been set for them

When companies decide to use a travel award system, the managers and company leaders must have set rules and regulations in place to assist the planning team in creating and building the best-suited traveling incentive program.

The incentive should focus on the employee and not the company. The incentive program will be set to reward the employee, thus adjusting the plan to fulfill their desires will lead it to success.

Every employee must be informed in advance to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to reach the goals. The management of the company must provide every team member with a space to asses their goal and track their current performance. This will allow them to keep track of how far they still need to go.

Check Out Incentive Travel 101:

Customer Loyalty

An employee incentive program can have a great impact on customers. The program can set goals such as increasing sales, which will lead the team to take care of their customers. This will lead them to show loyalty due to the great care the employees have for them.

Companies can create an incentive plan for customers that show their loyalty, this however is not as common as an employee incentive program. By simply focusing on the employee, companies can reach more benefits and grow their business at a rapid pace.

Sales Incentives

Retail businesses are well known for their incentive programs to ensure growth in sales. These incentives build a desired outcome that benefits the company and the team and one of the incentives that enhances that outcome is a travel incentive based on sales.

Statistics shows that 53% of award programs reward sales goals, 43% recognize employee performance and 33% are the partners of the company.

While the majority of awards are given to the sales team, companies can create multiple programs to ensure that the entire company has the opportunity to be awarded an incentive program. An incentive annual trip can be an individual incentive trip or for an entire team, and while some companies have internal planners, incentive travel agencies can be used. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Incentive Travel

As with every incentive program, travel incentives have advantages and disadvantages that must be compared to ensure that the award system is beneficial and possible for the corporation.

The advantages of an incentive program come in the form of increased sales and productivity. The company culture and employee engagement will increase with an increase in profit. The incentives will ensure that employees build healthy and meaningful relationships, and the company will increase its employee retention rates. 

The disadvantages of a corporate incentive trip are that the quality and high performance can suffer due to manipulations and deceit to ensure that the employee receives the award. The cons of incentive travel are that incentive programs are not long-term solutions to problems the company faces.

Careers in Incentive Travel & Destination Management

There are multiple options for traveling incentive managers within incentive companies. An occupation for managing traveling can occur within an event planning organization. This career opportunity will allow the employee to create an incentive plan that can be enjoyed by many employees over some time.

While some incentive travel companies only focus on deluxe incentive travel, others focus on multiple different events, thus acquiring an event planner more than a sole incentive travel planner job. Some incentive travel companies will assist businesses with multiple options, including VIP access trips, while other incentive companies focus on domestic and sales incentives for any team and business. 

Examples of Incentive Travel

Sending the team or individual to a domestic location such as Miami or New York is an example of incentive travel. The employee can visit multiple sights that are tourist attractions and enjoy an afternoon of leisure activities that they find exciting. 

Many companies will send employees to Italy, Spain, or Portugal. This is due to the fantastic weather, different culture, and history of all three countries. These are fantastic destination examples that can be used for both team travel and individual incentive programs. These cultural activities can be beneficial within the business sphere. 

FAQs

What is the Slogan of Incentive Travel?

There are many slogans to choose from. Companies can focus on the perks and benefits that the employees receive and add a rhythm and fun chant to it. This will improve the company culture and employee satisfaction.

How Do You Organize Incentive Travel?

Organizing incentive travel will take time and a team to ensure that the right procedures are followed. The team must first identify the main goals and reasons for the incentive. Thereafter the company must evaluate what goals must be rewarded and with what incentive program. Only then can the focus be on a location or destination that the attendee will enjoy.

What is the Difference Between a Reward, an Incentive, and a Gift?

A gift will be received as a good gesture or an achievement, such as a birthday. Conversely, an incentive will be rewarded to a person when specific tasks or goals are completed. A reward is performance-based.

Final Considerations

Travel incentive programs are a great way to motivate the team to grow. With benefits such as increasing team productivity and sales or building team culture, travel incentives will benefit any company that uses them. Companies can use a professional meeting planner or other incentive travel companies to ensure a quality trip for all employees. 

Companies can use incentive programs to ensure that the entire team and company grow towards tear goals. And while some incentive programs are more successful, incorporating an incentive travel program will provide the business with that desired growth.

Sabine Ghali

Kelly Murphy

PRESIDENT & FOUNDER

Certified Meeting planner with 20+ years of event management experience, founder of ConferenceSource, expert in meeting facility sourcing & contracting in North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Kelly will manage your budget as if they were her own, negotiating the best possible rate and hotel contract to benefit and protect every client and exceed all expectations for all planning aspects for sales meetings, educational meetings, product launches, incentive trips down to a small board of directors meeting. We make meetings easy understanding your meeting objectives and delivering meeting matched components.