Are Travel Incentives an Appreciated Reward?

Have you ever wondered why each year thousands of men & women sign up to become flight attendants? Let’s face it, the pay sucks, the hours are miserable, they’re hardly ever home during the holiday season and they’re always missing birthdays and anniversaries. Don’t even get me started on unruly passengers and stale cabin air!

Have you ever wondered why traveling the world is on almost everyones bucket list?

Have you ever wondered why people are always posting selfies on their holidays or ‘checking in’ to places?

Prophet Muhammed said, “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve traveled.”

Jawaharlal Nehru said, “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”

Ibn Battuta said, “Travel. It makes you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

The lust for travel is an inherent human nature. And that is the primary reason why travel incentives are so effective. Rewarding employees and sales teams (when they achieve targeted goals) with an opportunity to travel, discover places and live experiences, that they may not be able to otherwise afford, is the ultimate motivator and encourages employees to push themselves further and contribute more to the company’s aim of attaining business goals & objectives.

Incentive travel is a management tool that uses an exceptional travel experience to motivate and or recognize participants for increased levels of performance in support of organizational goals – Society of Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE).

Even those employees who’ve not been among the rewarded are impacted as well. When rewarded colleagues return from their trips and share stories of their experiences, other colleagues will be stimulated to work harder in order to be rewarded next time.

Everybody feels the need to be respected and to belong. We feel calm, safe and satisfied when we feel wanted and important. To be rewarded a trip for your effort invested and results achieved, creates certain pride and the feeling of victory and success. Social status is improved, not only because he/she is recognized as a top salesperson, but because he/she is one of a few to be able to experience this special reward.

Generally, the largest buyers of incentive programs come from the automotive industry, financial services, pharmaceutical industry, office equipment industry, electronics, telecommunications, etc.