Planning Your Incentive Travel Comeback
by Ting-Yi Shih
The travel industry may have suffered a very challenging year, but incentive travel continues to rank as the most effective way to grow relationships within an organization, increase employee engagement, and reward top performers.
After a year of shelter-in-place, talk of a pent-up desire to travel is echoing from citizens across the country. The calls grow even louder for incentive programs. While traveling great distances remains questionable, the demand to bring everyone together again is growing and companies are seeking ways to bring incentive programs back. The hurdles may seem high, but all it takes is determination and creativity.
"... incentive travel continues to rank as the most effective way to grow relationships within an organization, increase employee engagement, and reward top performers."
In the past year, we’ve helped companies evolve their programs into a hybrid incentive reward program where real-time seminars and group chats created a more personal and rewarding experience.
With increased vaccinations and countries opening back up for tourism, many organizations are looking forward and expecting a safe travel experience come next year. As variants of the virus may wind their way through the world, we're better prepared to defend ourselves with basic measures. Our clients feel confident ramping up their incentive programs for 2022 and their locking down incredible deals.
If your company needs an adrenaline boost to build employee loyalty, now is the time to secure your pick and avoid compression on rates and availability. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that travel insurance is key, travel advisors are a godsend, and force majeure clauses are a must have.
Over the past year, our clients have challenged us to come up with creative ways to reward their team members when traveling together was impossible or undesirable. One of our most successful solutions featured a white glove shopping platform—customized to suit the tastes of the workforce—even across global offices. Employees shopped for major brands and the favorite brands of their local market. Not everyone wanted to shop for products alone—travel endured as a motivating reward for top performers. So we also offered future travel vouchers with no expiration dates to allow employees a chance to travel only when they feel comfortable doing so.
At Going Places Travel, we have the resources to help you plan a full-fledged incentive program with activities for everyone. Together, we can explore some closer-to-home destinations that may be a better fit for near-term programs and we can offer innovative solutions to help you create a personalized award program through digital platforms or incentive gift programs. When your team members get rewarded, they feel valued. Give your top talent an enriching experience that’s been notably absent from their lives, and you’ll keep them longer and help them grow with your organization.
