Incentive travel planning can seem like a daunting task, but, if done correctly, the associated increase in sales and profitability are well worth the investment. Incentive travel can have a huge positive impact on corporate culture and engagement.
But beyond creating impactful experiences for your audience, you can also have a massive impact on sales, revenue, and other tangible business goals. For instance, one distributor of HVAC/Plumbing supplies was able to increase sales from trip earners by $7.5 million, an 80% increase year over year. Now tell me that incentive travel planning isn’t worth it!
No matter what industry you are in, research has shown that employees and customers alike find group travel incentives highly motivating, not only creating greater loyalty and brand association with your company, but proving to be worthwhile for your sales and profits as well. Qualifiers will have a sense of accomplishment when they earn the trip and will appreciate the opportunity to spend time with other qualifiers and company hosts in a setting guaranteed to build relationships and camaraderie – and in some cases more competition for the next year’s program!
Now, knowing the value, how do we begin our incentive travel planning?
Incentive travel planning is typically a 6-step process.
Step 1: Determine the logistics of your program such as goal, earning structure, audience, and budget.
Step 2: Select a destination that a) fits your budget and b) will motivate your target audience the most – based on their demographics.
Step 3: Communicate regularly and with consistent messaging about the trip to encourage participation.
Step 4: Measure progress and update participants on their status towards the trip to help build momentum.
Step 5: Build relationships while on the trip with your earners, making memories and connections that will last a lifetime.
Step 6: Analyze results and gather satisfaction levels from your trip-goers to adapt and modify for your future group trips.
The Ultimate Planning Guide
As you might already know, there’s a lot that goes into incentive travel planning. Because of this, we created a full guide, The Group Travel Solution Guide. Download it now to learn everything you need to get started with incentive travel.
