Everyone loves to travel. Whether it’s around the country or across the globe, there is no way anyone would pass up a chance to take a trip. So why wouldn’t your company’s incentive travel program work extremely well to encourage better productivity from your employees?   A lot of things could go wrong with your incentive travel program. One, it may not be as attractive as you would like. Two, it could be costing your business more money than you realize. And three, it may alienate a majority of your employees, creating a rift in your workforce and holding your business back from greater success.   Clearly, you need more than just the usual trips to motivate employees and to reward high-performing workers. Here are five essential things you may want to think about where your meetings and incentive travel plans are concerned.   1.Get your employees involved. To make sure that you create a truly alluring incentive travel program, whether it’s for the annual sales meeting or to reward employees who have landed major clients, it is crucial to get workers involved.   Send out surveys. Hold small consultation sessions. Find out what your best employees might be interested in when it comes to incentive travel, from the destinations right down to the activities. By getting your employees involved in the actual development of the program, you create an incentive program that specifically appeals to your organization.   2.Be aware of key trends in incentive travel. What are this year’s most wanted destinations? What cost-effective means are companies implementing to make the most of their incentive trips? What activities seem to be very popular with employees in your industry? It helps to be aware of key trends so you can work them into your program and gain wider appeal.   3.Create a fair and transparent selection process. While the incentive program is designed to reward rainmakers in your company, this doesn’t always have to be the case. Rewarding the same people repeatedly will create a divisive organization, and prevent any employee from doing better.So try to allow other employees to have the opportunity to compete for the selection process.   4.Provide a wide range of choices on scheduled activities. This is where your choice of destination becomes crucial. Try to go with destinations that offer more variety so your employees have options on leisure time.   5.Get professional help. Every incentive travel requires some type of management, before and during. You need the expertise and connections of an incentive travel house because this service will save you money and prevent the stress of planning. Most incentive travel houses can also assist you onsite, so that any concerns during the annual sales meeting in Arizona or the incentive trip to the Caribbean will be addressed. And you won’t have to worry about a thing.