The future of incentive travel

Lockdown reminded us all of what a privilege it is to travel, and is something we are all excited and craving to get back to, following over a year of restrictions. But, what will incentive travel look like as the industry makes its recovery?

Let’s take a look at our predictions...

A place to reconnect

After over a year of working virtually and getting to grips with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Hangouts, and building a virtual connection, companies are looking to reconnect, reward, and revitalise their customers and team following a lengthy period of online meetings with incentive travel providing the perfect new environment to do just that.

Destination CSR

Destination (CSR) was already something that we were increasingly mindful of and a fast-growing incentives trend that will boom post-pandemic. Businesses and individuals will look to visit communities that depend on tourism to boost recovery, with incentive travel becoming ‘carbon positive’.

Personalisation

Personalisation will become important in the recovery of the pandemic, it will become evident that one size fits all no longer applies. We predict that incentives will become more bespoke, with smaller group activities in which delegates will want more control over, and will anticipate having a choice.

Travel anxiety

Anxiety will be there initially as we are all being able to move around and travel again. The idea of an incentive trip with every detail taken care of will be more appealing to those individuals that are slightly nervous.

The adult's playground

On the other hand, we are seeing a lot of attendees looking forward to travelling again. We have seen a spike in trips to Las Vegas with businesses and individuals looking for fun, adrenaline, and a place to unwind following the pandemic and see the adult’s playground as the perfect location!

Educational trips

Whilst many businesses are looking to reconnect and have fun, incentive travel will also become more focused on being educational for career development purposes. Incentive travel provides a great new learning environment as it offers a positive ambiance to feel motivated and engaged, whilst also encouraging team building through support and interaction.

‘Instagrammable’ moments

Ok, we have all spent a lot more time on our phones over the last year, and a lot of that has been scrolling the ‘gram’ with wanderlust. ‘Instagrammable’ moments will play a huge part in the return of incentive travel going forwards and this will be built into agendas to capture those picture-perfect moments.

Final thoughts

Whilst we are all itching to return, health & safety will continue to be a top priority. While this may seem obvious, it will be an important part of planning incentive trips, when it comes to contingency plans.

If the pandemic taught us anything, it is that incentive travel specialists are extremely skilled in adapting to changing circumstances, updating and improving plans to always remain two steps ahead.

How can we help

Planning an incentive trip but don’t know where to start? First Event can work with you to deliver a trip that delegates will remember for years, contact us by heading to our contact page!