When incentive trips almost came to a halt after the lavish A.I.G. event in 2008 after the company got US$85 billion in government money, no one knew when the all-expenses-paid excursions would return.
The answer is now.
“The burn-at-the-stake attitude toward incentive travel is gone,” John Tichenor, president of World Heritage Travel Group, an incentive travel company in Angels Camp, Calif., told the New York Times.
“Fortunately, it looks like incentive trips are on their way back into the business world,” writes Laerina Mackenzie in Travel.
Great Hotels of the World in January predicted that incentive travel is back throughout 2011 and beyond. “The past few months have seen a significant increase in the amount of enquiries for incentive trips placed through Great Hotels of the world,” said Armand Guillemot, sales director.
The length of such trips has also increased with shorter lead times.
In the past, incentive trips have often been used by companies to motivate employees to sell more or otherwise contribute to profitability. But they were curtailed during the recent recession. Companies, some of which were laying off employees, feared the backlash from signs of excess travel spending.
Evidence of the comeback: “We have 92 percent of the 2010 volume already booked just two months into the year,” said Steve O’Malley, president of Site International Foundation. And programs are also larger. “Overall attendance is up 13 percent in terms of the number of people per program,” he added.
By David Wilkening
