SITE
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PÁDRAIC GILLIGAN OFFERS SOME THOUGHTS ON DESIGN FOR INCENTIVE TRAVEL LIVING
A t IMEX Frankfurt recently we launched the final piece of the three part inSITEs series with Participant inSITEs , a study of qualifiers attitudes to , and experiences of , incentive travel programmes .
Following that , along with our partners , Incentive Research Foundation and Oxford Economics , we have now released the 2023 edition of the Incentive Travel Index , our annual survey of the global incentive travel industry . This project will be fielding throughout June and July so be sure to pop over to siteglobal . com where you can find a link to the survey instrument .
But back to Participant inSITEs . You ’ ll find the full report on SITEGlobal . com The first section of Participant inSITEs breaks down findings on what makes participants feel ‘ ready ’ to participate in such programmes , focusing on incentive travel qualification criteria and communications patterns .
The second section then explores what gets participants ‘ set ’, what motivates them to qualify for an incentive programme , examining also the regional differences that emerge .
But I really want to discuss the third section of the survey , the ‘ go ’ section that evaluates the types of destinations , activities , and intangible benefits that , according to qualifiers , make incentive travel feel like a true reward .
The good news is that our almost 800 global qualifiers prefer travel rewards over cash or other bonuses – see Fig 1 .
When it comes to destination preferences , overall , there ’ s good news in the survey results too with the lame / tame side of travel ( resort , sunny beach ) decisively less popular with qualifiers that the intrepid / exciting bit ( Fig 2 ).
For there to be a lasting benefit to a travel experience , it has to take you out of your comfort zone , ideally exposing you to what the Italian writer Cesare Pavese called the ‘ brutality of travel ’. This is where travel becomes transformation , where other cultures and peoples are encountered and , as a consequence , an internal transformation is brought about in our own lives .
So it ’ s good to see a spirit of adventure in the destination choices and a preference for international ( across nearly all the regions ), surely the first level of challenge for a traveller .
When it comes to what activities qualifiers prefer during the incentive travel experience , I must confess to a minor modicum of disappointment ( Fig 3 ).
Here we see a pervasive disengagement from the destination across all regions . Two regions omit ‘ immersive cultural ’ completely from their top 5 preferences and only European and North American qualifiers include it in their top 3 , behind ‘ free time ’ and ‘ time with spouse ’.
When we compare these results with the results from other research projects in the inSITEs series ( Corporate inSITEs and Leadership inSITEs ), we find clear misalignment around programme design and inclusions .
Corporations favour activities and inclusions that foster relationship building between qualifiers and corporate leadership – after all , they ’ re paying for the trip ! But this is NOT what qualifiers want .
Fig . 1 Participants prefer travel rewards
Fig . 2 Participant Destination Preferences by Region
Fig . 3 Participant Activity Preferences by Region
With the exception of qualifiers from Africa Middle East who actually include ‘ teambuilding ’ and ‘ time with colleagues ’, no other region includes any ‘ corporate ’ activity other than Gala Dinner in their top 5 .
Most qualifiers , it seems , want to be simply left alone , and , upon their return to their guest room in the evening , they ’ d like to find a nice gift .
When you work so hard to qualify for the trip , you want to be able to switch off , go into a cocoon , do nothing .
That said , I think we ’ re leaving something precious and valuable on the table by missing out on destination encounter . Maybe we need to be more intentional in our design ? n
ISSUE 125 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 23