Help & advice: Why travel is an effective incentive

The opinions presented in this paper are subjective and are offered as a basis for further discussion and research only.

Research has shown that travel incentives are highly desired and extremely effective incentives and more importantly, they work.

Using incentive travel to motivate employees or customers is often a very effective method to capture their attention and change their behaviour so you can reach your business goals.

As an employer it is easy to understand why travel incentives are so enticing. From the moment the travel incentive is launched people visualise being pampered at a top spa, relaxing on tropical beach, taking the last run down the slopes, teeing off at a world-famous golf course or visiting one of the wonders of the world. It is proven that employees will redefine professional goals and work harder and smarter to earn the recognition of attending a travel incentive resulting in stronger business results for your company.

Companies regularly use incentive travel with every critical audience: salespeople, company employees and channel partners, because incentive travel can motivate people in a way where other awards fall short. Incentive travel offers much more than a holiday. The process of getting away together can create bonds that simply don’t occur any other way. It can provide an indelible imprint on the recipients and can open up candid dialogue that helps all participants expand their understanding of how to improve performance. Participants build positive associations and strengthen their engagement with your brand. Attendees may also share leading-edge strategies facilitating the spread of best practices among your top performers.

The basic principle is to give them something that they not only want, but will have a lasting effect and engender company loyalty that goes beyond the incentive period. Cash just doesn’t do this.

Incentive travel can boost your bottom line and strengthen your relationship with your top performers. However, the key is to choose the resort and mix of activities that will be the most motivating and appealing to your target audience. By providing the correct destination you will achieve new levels of commitment and higher performance achievement, resulting in higher engagement levels across your organisation. It has been shown that higher engagement levels will provide improvements in retention, performance and customer experience.