19 Jun How modern incentive travel firms create unmatched value for clients

Why do you put in so many hours at work? Why do you upskill, work hard, and try to contribute as much as you can to your and your organisation’s success? Because you get something out of it – monetary compensation, purpose, community, social value… the list goes on.

In short, incentives drive you.

Many organisations today use incentives to both motivate and reward employees. With incentive programs, they endeavour to boost revenue, innovation, productivity, and/or morale, or reinforce their brand value and company culture.

Incentive travel firms take the idea of incentives and put a wonderful twist on it.

For a long time, incentive programs were curated only for uniquely exceptional employees, but as company cultures have evolved, many more high-performing employees have attractive incentives within reach. As incentive programs shift their focus from exclusivity to reach, the prospect of personal or family leisure travel isn’t the only way you might be incentivised. Group corporate travel has become a fairly common reward – a reward that incentive travel companies help bring to fruition.

Incentive travel programs are by no means the only form of reward and recognition. Cash bonuses, gift cards, extended time off, trophies, merchandise, and opportunities for professional development are all part of the bouquet of offerings available to companies and their human resources teams.

But there’s just something about travel that does the trick better than anything else…

Why businesses invest in incentive travel programs

A 2016 study estimated that organisations in the United States spent over $100 billion annually on rewards like gift cards, watches, trophies and of course, incentive travel programs. $100 billion is a massive amount, but it is well worth the investment.

A meta-analysis of relevant studies revealed an average 22% increase in performance for companies that offered reward programs. When such programs were in place for over 6 months, that number shot up to 44% and 48% for individual and group rewards, respectively.

Another series of studies has noted that appropriate rewards could lead to employees feeling more intrinsically motivated at work.

It is beyond doubt that well-considered incentives of all kinds can benefit companies in numerous ways. However, incentive travel programs are a class apart from other types of rewards, both tangible and intangible. Additionally, partnering with reputed modern incentive travel firms to execute such programs lends them added value – not only in terms of cost but also expertise, quality and customisation.

Let us explore how.

How incentive travel companies can create unmatched value for you

If there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that incentive travel agencies or MICE companies like ours create far more value for incentive travel programs than your internal teams or generic travel agents can.

Value for your business. Value for your corporate travellers. Value for money.

This isn’t because your internal teams or generic travel agencies aren’t capable – they just don’t have the targeted experience and skills or the time and energy that specialised incentive travel companies have to devote to the complexities of MICE travel.

What’s more, modern incentive travel firms like DestinationNXT offer bespoke itineraries, people-centred experiences, and comprehensive services including itinerary design, travel logistics, venue logistics, and experiences like team-building activities and guided tours. Our specialised focus and tailored approach mean that each of your corporate travellers will feel like the trip was planned especially for them! What more can you ask for, eh?

If you’re still looking for reasons to justify partnering with incentive travel firms, here are a few. They’re sure to convince the greatest of skeptics that incentive travel agencies can positively impact your revenue, reputation and ultimately, your bottom line, leaving an immeasurable influence on your entire organisation.

Increase revenue and productivity. Who doesn’t want an all-expenses-paid trip to majestic Jaipur or a holiday to the Finnish capital of Helsinki? As the studies mentioned above show clearly, incentives work. And what better than the prospect of a well-curated trip to motivate employees to achieve certain business goals? A study has shown that for every dollar invested in business travel, companies earn incremental revenues of $12.50.

Reinforce your company culture. In today’s day and age, when employee well-being is a central concern for all organisations, you can use incentive travel programs to reinforce your human-centred culture. This is because MICE travel can help employees bond, open meaningful dialogue between employees and management, and show employees that their organisation listens to them and cares for their comfort and well-being.

Foster employee loyalty. Closely linked to company culture is employee loyalty. Incentive travel firms can help you to enhance both.

You see, incentive travel is a tangible reward. While cash bonuses can feel transactional, tangible awards like holidays can feel more personal and consequently, more valuable. This helps you build an emotional relationship with your employees – they will certainly value and appreciate the company that makes unique travel experiences possible for them.

When incentive travel companies tailor MICE trips to guest interests and preferences, the trip is likely to occupy more of their mental space well after the trip. Essentially, the sense of appreciation they feel towards the company will persist long after the actual trip. This is key for already well-paid employees – cash rewards will certainly not have the same impact on them as once-in-a-lifetime experiences!

Increase your brand value and your value proposition as an employer. When employees earn a trip to Malaysia, Dubai or Singapore, what’s the first thing you expect? We don’t know about you, but we sure expect to see social media posts! Of the Kuala Lumpur tower. Of Dubai’s Gold Souk and Ferrari World. Maybe of Universal Studios or the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore.

That’s the thing about incentive travel – it’s tangible, visible. Your high-performing employees aren’t likely to brag about how big a cash incentive they got, but they sure will share the meaningful experiences they had in exotic locales.

In any good organisation, your employees should be your biggest cheerleaders and advocates. So when they speak to others, in person and on social media, about how you’ve created value for them, that says amazing things about your company. This also makes you more attractive to other top talent in your industry. Talk about the value of incentive travel agencies!

Less work, but more benefits! The best part about partnering up with incentive travel firms is that your teams get an unparalleled experience without you having to do all the work! Outsourcing the design, logistics, and management of your incentive trips to incentive travel agencies takes a significant burden off your HR team’s shoulders. Your organisation doesn’t have to handle visa paperwork, flight bookings, local transportation, or research about the destination. Imagine that!

The expertise, local contacts, and focused attention of specialised incentive travel agencies like DestinationNXT put them several rungs above your busy HR or another generic travel agency in handling your MICE travel.

Pick a trusted MICE partner and it’s all smooth sailing from there! At DestinationNXT, we understand that even though we’re responsible for planning your corporate travel, it’s your reputation that’s on the line. That’s not a responsibility we take lightly.

Above and beyond all the wonderful experiences we’ll curate for your teams, we always promise one thing – we’ll make you look good.