Incentive Travel Program | Planning

How do you make sure everyone will enjoy their Incentive Travel Program?

Do your delegates feel obliged to go down that zip wire, will they get bored sitting on the beach, do they want to visit another market, or eat something they don’t recognise!

It’s the job of a Travel Incentive organiser to ensure that everyone enjoys their travel incentive program, they leave with great memories and want to qualify again for next year.

However, if your delegates are from different countries, different age groups and different cultures, it may be a challenge to please everyone.

A typical Incentive Program structure will include an Iconic destination, a stunning hotel, a group activity where everyone is expected to take part and a Gala dinner

Your challenge is to develop a program to suit everyone.

Some people may want to sit on the beach and relax, some people will want to explore and get the flavour of the destination and some people may want some thrills and spills and do something exciting that they might not otherwise have done.  For smaller groups of the same demographics it will be a fairly safe bet that they will all like the same things – you should always check…

However, it’s becoming more popular, in larger groups especially, to offer a Menu of activities so that delegates can almost tailor their own trip during the day – and come together in the evening for dinners or networking sessions and share their day time experiences.

There are benefits to this approach:

• Some of activities are much better in smaller groups where you can ensure everyone gets the same level of experience

• Accessibility and space can sometimes prove prohibitive with larger numbers, so your Options of things you can offer will increase

• You can often provide more authentic experiences with smaller groups too.

If you are new to organising Incentives, do a poll of the delegates – ask them what they really would like to do and structure the program around them.  This will also help to select the Destination – you can rule out Iceland if your delegates want to sit on the beach in February or March – but it would be great if they want an all-action experience and wonderful food.

Here is an example Menu of Activities if Istanbul  was your selected destination:

• For the Fit & Active why not offer a Belly Dancing Workshop or Dragon Boat racing on the shores of the Golden Horn

• For the Foodies, perhaps Baklava workshop or Street Food Tasting

• If they like Culture, a visit to the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Underground Cistern are a must

• If they just want Relaxation, make sure you choose a hotel with a good Spa and maybe arrange a Turkish Hammam at Hurrem Sultan

Everyone covered!

You will find other ideas on our Destinations page