When you hear about companies that offer incentive travel packages to help motivate their employees to perform better and demonstrate the organization's appreciation of their excellent work, a trip to a gorgeous beach or an exciting journey to a culturally rich foreign city often comes to mind.

After all, that's what makes incentive trips appealing — they entice employees with an opportunity to visit a place or try an experience that they would not be very likely to have if they were to rely on their own resources. The fact that the trip would be provided as a reward for excellent performance makes winning the travel opportunity a lot sweeter, too — you gain recognition from your superiors for being a valued team player that contributes to meeting the organization's goals, and you also become an esteemed figure in the eyes of your colleagues.

Finding the right incentive

For businesses, the challenge lies in putting together an impressive group tour and incentive travel program that effectively expresses the company's appreciation of the employee's efforts, while also successfully encouraging team members to aim for better performance and targeted results for the company's benefit.

To accomplish this, managers and business owners need to look beyond simply giving top performers a weekend beach getaway. With a little effort, and the assistance of a top - notch incentive travel house, you can determine which travel packages would be the best fit for your teams. Being smart about the selection may just mean even better results the next time you offer incentives to your employees, thanks to their heightened interest in participating (and succeeding).

Here are some key tips to help you plan the best possible incentive travel options for your organization:

Consider shared interests. Some companies award incentives to entire departments or employees coming from the same areas of specialization. In such cases, it may be a good idea to create a travel incentive program revolving around their common interests, or something that would help them gain new knowledge or skills that could be valuable in their line of work. Content writers, for example, may enjoy a group tour around a city noted for producing some of the world's best authors. IT departments, on the other hand, may be excited to explore the top tech meccas in the country.

Find out if there are new experiences the employees would like to try. Instead of going where they are sure to find something to ignite their passions, maybe your employees would like to try something entirely unfamiliar to them instead. Your more reserved team members might like to try an extreme sports adventure, for example.

Let the incentive recipients decide on a theme. It would be an added treat if the participants could select the kind of trip they would get. Whether it's a visit to wine country, wildlife sanctuaries, or culinary hotspots, the incentive travel package will be thoroughly enjoyed, and employees will be more motivated to strive for the coveted incentives next time around.