To improve its performance and boost the morale of its employees, a company can make use of a corporate and incentive travel program — a way of rewarding staff members with high quality travel opportunities for their exemplary performance and input. A company may offer, say, a weekend trip to an exotic international location, a relaxing spa experience in a regional resort, tickets to see a top musical act or sports team in a thundering arena, or a luxurious hotel stay in the city with perks. Such rewards would be highly coveted by employees, thus pushing them to put in their best work for a chance to qualify. It sure beats being announced as the top performer in your department and receiving a coffee mug, a desk set, or a gift certificate to the coffee shop next door!   Is that all there is to it? While some companies are able to pull off organizing an incentive program on their own, others — specifically, larger companies or more established ones seeking to put together a program that befits their status or reputation — can benefit from having seasoned incentive travel planning firms at the helm of their incentive project. Such specialists would be able to devise a program that meets the organization's goals, objectives and budget, ensuring that the employees are offered highly coveted travel opportunities while the company observes positive growth and performance thanks to its team members' heightened motivation.   Expert advice Professional incentive program planners will have excellent strategies to share with your company to help make sure not only that this year's program will be a success, but also that future incentive travel programs will continue to reap benefits for both business owner and employee. Here are three key strategies:   Put your winners in the spotlight. An incentive program is meant to find the top performers within a team or department. Once they are identified, it's a good idea to highlight their achievement — write about them in the newsletter, create photographs and videos, organize a small event to award the incentives. Employees will work hard to gain the same level of recognition in the next program cycle. Provide incentive program winners with work-related perks. The cream of the crop should not only win the coveted travel packages, but also opportunities to take a step up within the organization. They could be invited to discussions with their superiors during the trip or to attend workshops that can give them a better opportunity to aim for higher positions in the next few months or years — and become a valuable figure in the company. Take your program up a notch with every cycle, making sure to give all team members a chance to clinch the prize. Not all employees will be elite performers, so your program must be designed to offer incentives that employees of all levels can aspire to win. Learn about previous winners' motivations and strategies, and use the information to style future incentive programs to suit employee goals and abilities. The key is to effectively motivate the staff to perform their best, to provide a positive experience, and to help the organization meet its specific goals.