If a hike to Machu Picchu, concluding with a traditional Peruvian meal, or a private walk through St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum accompanied by an exclusive guide sound like peak experiences, that’s because they are. And that’s what today’s employees want, more than anything. They desire experiences which are one-of-a-kind, curated to their interests and impossible to reproduce. In fact, that’s what the modern traveler wants more than anything. They don’t want a packaged tour. They want to be taken off the beaten track, to explore culture, history and to know the true texture of the destinations they visit. Planning is key to creating travel incentives like these and the planning process should fold in several factors when creating travel incentives with lasting value.
In a small world, people are increasingly well-traveled. Travel incentives with lasting value need to recognize this and build on it. Curating incentive travel with a sense of exclusivity requires the addition of features like a dedicated concierge, or events which speak to your group on a personal level. Knowing your employees is key to creating incentives which are specifically tailored to their interests. When you can create travel experiences which speak to their dreams, you’ve created loyalty-building, lasting value.
Regardless of how rare, exclusive or exotic your travel incentive is, if it stands alone, unsupported by a structure and purpose, it’s likely to fail. Pivotal to its success is that it’s based on measurable results and doesn’t exist in a vacuum, but is supported as part of a sustained and consistent message to staff. Incentives are motivating, but once the incentive’s over, the fire will go out unless your business is intentionally stoking it to keep the momentum going.
Along with exclusivity, personalization is a key component of creating travel incentives with lasting value. When employees can see themselves in the incentive you’re offering, they’ll immediately sense that it’s been specially created for them. This is a powerful and inspirational tool. In seeing themselves in the incentive, they immediately take ownership, wanting even more ardently to reach the brass ring.
Human relationships, in the workplace and elsewhere, are successful only in the presence of clear communication. The same is true of travel incentives. Communicating to your employees that you’ve taken special care to tailor something to their fondest experiential travel dreams is key. That’s information which inspires loyalty, hard work and healthy competition amongst peers. Creating a website and other resources for travel incentives is another opportunity to communicate the exceptional value of the incentive. This brings other employees into the conversation and creates in them a desire to compete for similar opportunities.
At ITG, we’ve been creating travel incentives with lasting value for more than 20 years. We bring you extensive experience in curating incentives which animate the dreams of employees, with experiential travel that’s highly personalized to the dreams of your people. Contact us to find out how we can bring your team the very best in travel incentives.
