It’s no secret that offering an incentive to employees is a key factor in boosting performance, sales, and engagement.
So with that in mind, we answer the question, “What is incentive travel?” with a definition and the top benefits of offering an incentive trip program.
What Is Incentive Travel?
Incentive travel is a specific trip or tour offered to top-performing employees as a way to motivate them to make more sales, gain more customers, and/or improve overall performance. By offering an incentive trip, companies are able to drive their business goals and recognize top performers.
An incentive trip can be taken as a group or an individual vacation for the employee and their families.
Benefits of Offering an Incentive Trip
Offering an incentive trip has plenty of benefits, so we’ve outlined the top reasons why your company should start an incentive trip program today.
1. Company growth and increased sales
To reiterate, people like rewards. Employees respond to incentives and, in return, target sales are more likely to be met and there could be an increase in business growth. By giving employees a goal to strive for, it promotes productivity gains that could potentially be seen across the board.
The increase in sales and productivity driven by the workforce will far outweigh the cost of offering an incentive trip. Additionally, by making employees feel valued, this will also likely increase sales and overall performance.
2. Stronger relationships and increased loyalty
Not only will employees be incentivized to sell more or boost their overall performance, but companies that offer incentive travel are also able to build stronger relationships with their employees.
Everyone wants to be rewarded for their hard work and employees recognize when companies offer those rewards. Offering an incentive trip will not go unnoticed.
Additionally, employees may be more likely to stay with a company that offers these rewards. Company loyalty is extremely important in long-term employee retention and incentive travel can help with that.
3. Extra professional development time
During an incentive trip, many companies opt to use some of the time to promote additional professional development through workshops and seminars.
Certainly, one of the most important parts of an incentive trip is to allow employees to relax and reap the benefits of their hard work, but by setting aside a couple of hours for professional development, employers are given the opportunity to blend leisure and learning.
4. Family time leads to a better support network
Many companies offer incentive trips for employees and their families. By allowing their families to join, companies are also promoting a healthy family support system.
Travel creates long-lasting memories and hard-working employees deserve to take some time out with their families to enjoy these memories together. This will hopefully promote high productivity for years to come.
5. Company bonding
Some companies treat incentive travel as more of a retreat for their employees to get to know each other, network, and team build. Whether you are getting the entire team together or a select few of the top sellers, this is an excellent opportunity to allow for some intercompany bonding.
This could also lead to higher sales or company growth because employees are able to get to know each other better on a much different level than they normally would in the office.
This is especially beneficial for companies spread out across the country or those that mainly work remotely. There’s nothing like an in-person connection and an incentive trip does just that. And it’s a lot of fun for everyone!
Conclusion
At the end of the day, offering incentive trips for employees is a win-win for everyone. Employees are encouraged to grow their productivity while they are also shown that their company values them and rewards them for their hard work. The company benefits from this hard work by hopefully seeing growth in the bottom line.
As a travel agency specializing in incentive travel, contact us and let us help you plan an incentive trip to motivate your employees and bring your company to a whole new level!
