This year’s Incentive Travel Index survey results reveal changes in how companies and qualifiers view incentive travel programs. The collaborative report from IRF and SITE surveyed more than 2,800 incentive travel professionals.
Skift Meetings reached out to the leaders of both organizations, IRF President Stephanie Harris and SITE Executive Annette Gregg, to get their explanations for the three key shifts.
1. Incentive measures are increasingly used to build corporate culture
An incentive program is a business tool that, if successful, can drive revenue directly toward the bottom line. Increased sales cover the cost of the program.
In this year’s survey, 58% of respondents said they saw incentive travel playing a more visible role in motivation and culture-building. Greg calls this “soft power” advantage “an unintended consequence of business tools introduced primarily to improve corporate profitability.”
The survey also found that other soft goals of incentive programs are becoming increasingly important. These include retaining talented employees (81%) and providing a competitive advantage in recruitment (62%).
“Culture building remains critical to attendees and program owners, so soft power is currently more of a driver than hard measures,” Harris said. “If more companies push employees back to the office, other traditional culture building can be adopted strategy, this may change.”
She explains how companies can design motivational agendas that reflect how they build corporate culture. “We’ve seen an increase in desire for group dining experiences and awards celebrations. These are moments where companies can reinforce their culture and values to attendees. Of course, the added value of being together in a work-from-home world is also a major benefit.
2. Incentive travel is becoming an expected part of compensation
Nearly half of those surveyed (41%) said they believed today’s award was “deserved.” Supporting this finding, 55% of senior leaders believe incentive programs are “necessary” and 49% say incentive programs are “necessary.”
Will incentives become established rewards for winners and management, like annual bonuses?
“This may be more prevalent in organizations with a large number of perennial winners,” Harris said. “That said, we also saw 68% of respondents indicating that travel is increasingly used as a reward. value, and we know that younger employees value travel more than older generations. ”
Gregg agrees that the value of incentive travel varies by employee. “In some ways, incentive travel can be viewed as another type of reward, especially since there are always employees who may prefer cash, merchandise, or other forms of recognition.
“It’s to be expected that award travel may not be the right solution for all rewards and recognition programs. The key is knowing when and where to use it so that it does what only it can do – creating something other rewards simply cannot deliver. a lasting, transformative experience.
3. Destinations considered safe attract large amounts of incentive travel
Although attendees have different preferences, geopolitics may influence companies’ choice of “safe” destinations. For 71% of respondents, political considerations outweighed other considerations when planning incentives for 2024, a 20% increase from 2023.
Harris described 2024 as “a year of uncertainty” as more than half of the world’s countries will hold elections this year, in addition to war and unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East. “Businesses have a responsibility to look after their travelers and therefore look more closely for destinations that are more stable and safe for attendees.”
However, there is a disconnect between where attendees want to go and where companies are willing to send them. Western Europe once again topped all international incentive destinations in IRF’s 2024 Attendee Preference Survey. The Middle East actually moved up one spot this year to become the third most desirable destination.
“The truth is, Western Europe is not considered ‘international’, at least not in the same way as Thailand or Argentina,” Greg explains. “Even as the war raged for more than two years in another part of the continent, the ‘fear factor’ simply did not arise.”
