Let’s talk about incentive travel and why it matters to you.
Motivational corporate travel experiences with business results — that’s incentive travel.
Incentive travel is the pinnacle of corporate planning expertise. For experiential and immersive travel experiences.
This corporate approach and methodology apply to personal leisure travel, too. For meaningful travel that transforms the ordinary into extraordinary .
What is incentive travel?
Incentive travel programs are VIP curb-to-curb travel for top performers who’ve achieved and exceeded corporate objectives.
Incentive travel is actually the smallest segment of the global travel industry. But with the highest per-person spend.
Program elements are strategic, purposeful, and intentional. With measurable outcomes for return on investment (ROI).
Program scope includes destination and hotel selection, air and ground transportation, daytime activities, evening events, and keepsake gifts.
Program success requires strategic planning, creative vision, complex logistics, and trustworthy partnerships.
The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE Global), the world’s only association dedicated exclusively to this elite travel sector, offers a wealth of incentive research.
These studies show that incentive travel rewards, motivates, and inspires people to a greater degree than cash or gifts.
And indeed with longer-lasting satisfaction than cash or gifts.
What does incentive travel look like?
To imagine what an incentive travel program might look like, let’s unpack three signature pillars of our proprietary framework:
- the unique
- the exclusive
- the wow
Firstly, imagine the UNIQUE.
You’re excited to explore your new destination. But today is no public sightseeing tour with canned narration.
Today you’ll see, hear, and taste the city’s best aboard a private luxury coach with a professional private guide.
At iconic stops and scenic photo ops, staff welcome you. You go behind the scenes, sample tasty treats, and enjoy more on this one-of-a-kind adventure.
Secondly, imagine the EXCLUSIVE.
The landmark Major League Baseball stadium swings its gates open to you. But today is no public game day.
Today you’re the All Star. And the stadium belongs exclusively to you and your team.
The team mascot welcomes you with a keepsake photo. Then you explore the clubhouses, dugouts, press room, and other off-limit areas.
Your fantasy baseball dreams come true at batting practice with the team coach. Hey, that’s you on the scoreboard!
Bistro-clad servers and chef stations dish up gourmet treats and ballpark favourites.
Fireworks burst over the field to finish with flair this one-in-a-million memory.
Thirdly, imagine the WOW.
You’re dressed to impress for a farewell dinner cruise in Paris. But this is no typical tourist boat.
This is an extraordinary luxurious private motoryacht custom-built for royalty.
And tonight, you rule the river Seine.
Violinists serenade as the Michelin-starred chef and tuxedo-clad stewards serve a fabulous feast. The master sommelier introduces a perfect wine pairing for each course.
Later as midnight nears, you raise a flute of Champagne. The Eiffel Tower dazzles with its iconic light show.
“Wow,” you whisper upon disembarking from this once-in-a-lifetime event, “I can’t wait for next year!”
Here’s why incentive travel matters to you.
Incentive travel programs reward, motivate, and inspire corporate employees. More than cash. More than gifts.
Thus the program planning, production, and operation must accomplish key objectives to reward, motivate, and inspire the travelers by:
- Elevating their experiences.
- Engaging their senses.
- Creating resonant memories.
Incentive travel is, therefore, the ultimate meaningful travel.
It’s easy, of course, to find the unique, the exclusive, the wow in world-famous destinations and in extravagant experiences like the above examples.
Big budgets, big cities, and all-expense-paid awesomeness aside – regardless, there’s something special to discover everywhere.
The corporate approach applies to your personal leisure travel, too.
For your own meaningful travel experiences to:
- Broaden horizons, create connections, and deepen understanding.
- Seek beauty and find joy, wherever you are.
- Collect moments that echo in memory.
Because WHY you go matters more than WHERE you go (bucket list > checklist).
Because meaningful travel is part of a meaningful life.
And stories enrich the meaning.
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LEARN: About SITE Global