When measuring the effectiveness of their incentive travel program, many company leaders struggle with how to prove they have recouped their investment. Higher profits are usually the primary goal and the easiest to determine. However, quantifying other important outcomes, such as engagement and motivation of the entire team, is more elusive yet critical to gauging … Continue reading “Measuring the ROI on Incentive Travel”
When employees start a new job, they often receive a couple of weeks for vacation time. Often, they use those days to extend weekends here and there. A vacation day might go to catching up on personal errands. With luck, they may take a week off to enjoy a family vacation. Travel feels rushed and … Continue reading “Get Paid to Travel: 15 Companies That Will Give You Money to Go On Vacation”
What is Incentive Travel? Incentive travel is an important subset of the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) industry. It is effectively a travel perk used to incentivize or motivate employees or partners. It is often tied to company goals or top performers. In this report from the University of Central Florida Rosen College of … Continue reading “What is Incentive Travel?”
A tight job market in a healthy economy creates a dynamic that affects business owners and employees similarly, but both groups have different objectives. Each side hopes to get more out of the other. A middle ground does exist in employee reward and recognition programs though; it benefits small businesses by motivating employees to do … Continue reading “Rewards and Recognition Programs Guide”
What Is MICE Travel? MICE is an acronym for meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions. It’s an overarching term that encompasses a niche tourism group dedicated to the logistics of business events. It is a highly lucrative industry revolving around incentive travel, though there is a distinction between incentivized travel and business conferences. Many cities … Continue reading “Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) Travel”
Recently, the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) released new findings about the industry’s outlook for 2020. Overall, the IRF was optimistic about online retail gift cards and brand-name merchandise. Event gifting is also expected to have a positive year during 2020. The IRF is looking forward to a strong year for the incentive industry with bullish … Continue reading “IRF 2020 Outlook and Predictions”
Employees are without question the backbone of any company. They are why your company thrives, and in some cases, why your company struggles. Employee morale is more important than it ever was before. Keeping your people happy can mean better performance and ultimately a better bottom line. According to Forbes, checked-out employees cost U.S. companies … Continue reading “Want to Boost Employee Morale? Try Incentive Travel.”
Incentive travel is a powerful tool used by company leaders to encourage top performers to keep up the good work. But without an impressive, bucket list-style destination, your best salespeople might not recognize how highly they are valued. MICE travel is an increasingly effective way to show your top performers you appreciate their hard work. … Continue reading “Top Incentive Travel Destinations for 2020”
Corporate culture has changed a lot when it comes to employee retention and perks. Gone are the days of Christmas bonuses and gold watches. Now, the competitive climate of recruitment is rethinking the way businesses handle corporate perks. There are 20 corporate perks that are essential for 2020. Creating a strategy for corporate recognition that … Continue reading “20 Corporate Perks You Must Offer in 2020”
What are sales incentives? Sales incentives can be any kind of compensation or reward provided by an employer to drive productivity, more specifically, the selling of goods or services. And sales incentives have evolved over the last 25 years, as all things to do. If you could take a time machine back to the 1990s … Continue reading “18 New Sales Incentives to Improve Performance”
Have you ever asked (or answered) the question, “Should we outsource our corporate incentive travel program?” If so, then you know that organizing an event of any size requires more than just choosing a destination and motivating participants to hit their goals. Success depends on careful planning—all while evaluating performance and managing the behaviors of … Continue reading “Top Reasons to Outsource Your Incentive Travel Program”
As you may be aware by now, the Trump Administration has reinstated travel restrictions to Cuba for U.S. travelers. A recently reenacted government ban, as described in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s official statement, effectively eliminates group travel to the island indefinitely. Although it includes a “grandfather provision” for pre-paid people-to-people tours, exact details about how … Continue reading “New Government Travel Ban Rules Out Incentive Trips to Cuba”
A sunny forecast is on the horizon for Incentive Travel, according to the Incentive Research Foundation. Their 2019 Trends Study revealed numerous positive findings, summarized here: Growth is supported by expanding budgets, increased participant eligibility, and improved internal and public perceptions of incentive travel programs, according to the 2018 Incentive Travel Industry Index. The average … Continue reading “IRF 2019 Trends”
Gaining budget approval for your incentive program can be a challenge. In our latest article, we detail the steps to take to achieve upper management buy-in.
Whether traveling for work or pleasure, there’s a good chance you’ll rely on an app or two to get where you’re going. We all have our favorites, but we’ve found a few we think are worth sharing. So whether you use an Android or iOS device, these must-have apps just could make your travels easier, … Continue reading “The Best Must-Have Travel Apps”
An incentive travel program is a vital tool for recognizing your best salespeople and incentivizing your biggest customers. You want to inspire them to go above and beyond, and to wow participants with a trip they wouldn’t normally take on their own. But how do you decide where to go? Fortunately, we’ve been there (literally). … Continue reading “A Shift in Incentive Travel”
Why companies struggle, and creative ideas to make your next campaign easier. Do you struggle to communicate your incentive programs? Read our latest blog article, which includes untapped resources to help your campaign stand out. Also, check out our article on marketing communications strategy.
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A first step in planning any trip abroad involves checking the travel advisories for your intended destination. If you’ve ever been confused about the difference between travel warnings and advisories, you’re not alone. Of course, if you’re traveling with us, we automatically monitor each location for any safety concerns. Even so, you may want to … Continue reading “State Department Launches New Travel Advisory Program”
If you are looking for a special way to thank people who have done a great job – and motivate others to do their best – consider an incentive travel program. Not only are you giving your staff unforgettable experiences and life-long memories, there are enormous benefits for your business too: It’s much more motivationalResearch … Continue reading “Incentive Programs Work”
Engagement is certainly one of this year’s buzzwords. And there’s good reasoning behind that. The more engaged your customer, meeting or incentive attendee, or stakeholder, the more loyal they will be to your product, and therefore the more valuable they become to you. So, what are the best ways to engage your event attendees and … Continue reading “Are You Engaging Your Attendees?”
We began 2017 talking about Detroit as a Comeback City, and as we enter the last quarter of the year, we’re going to provide an update on how that growth is continuing to accelerate. It’s led, of course, by the opening of LCA–Little Caesars Arena–in The District Detroit, a new sporting and entertainment area that … Continue reading “It’s Happening in the “D”!”
Our business is to provide you with the best trip, meeting, or event possible. Created around your specific needs to reward your top-tier producers, each project is executed by working closely with you. Often, we’ll also work in tandem with another important part of our team: the destination management company (DMC). A partner in the … Continue reading “The Essential DMC”
Thanks for stopping by! You’ve probably heard that great experiences can motivate people and promote the success of your business. Put your staff on the path to meeting their sales and performance goals, and you’ll move closer to achieving your corporate objectives (ask us about ROI). Here at VIKTOR, that’s our business. We craft and … Continue reading “Incentivize and recognize”
Location, location, location is a well-known real estate mantra. The incentive travel industry has a similar mantra, destination, destination, destination. Trying to come up with the perfect incentive destination can be quite time consuming. After all, to be a viable option, it needs to offer: Safety First class hotels A variety of interesting and authentic … Continue reading “Oh, the Places you’ll Go!”
While the hotel market continues to be somewhat bullish, signs are afoot that things are finally going to be slowing as we progress through the year. Not a big change, just a gradual slowing. Considering the industry has been enjoying the highest occupancies ever, at least in the 30 years it’s been measured, this news isn’t … Continue reading “What’s in Store for the Hotel Market in 2017?”
Not many people get the opportunity to work with an icon in their industry, let alone an icon in two industries. Those of us who’ve had the opportunity to work for Viktor Weyand know what a force of nature the man can be; and there are hotel and incentive suppliers around the world that know … Continue reading “Viktor Weyand’s Career Spans the Slopes as well as the Globe”
Frequent fliers now have several options from which to choose when it comes to expediting their way through security lines. The newest of these programs is Clear, which is privately operated but sanctioned by TSA. I recently became a member, and so far, it’s been amazing. The one drawback is that it’s only in 20 … Continue reading “Navigating Your Way through Trusted Traveler Programs”
I’ve had the opportunity to read several recaps on the trends predicted to impact the Meetings Industry this year. One of the best was in a recent webinar by Meetings Today and U.S. Travel featuring Michael Dominguez, SVP & CSO for MGM Resorts. Dominguez is a popular speaker in the industry, and for good reason. He’s knowledgeable, matter … Continue reading “2017 Meetings Industry Forecast”
If you have plans to launch an incentive program this year, you’ll want to know what trends are shaping the industry. The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) has just released its 2017 Trends Study, which highlights the top ten trends for incentive travel, and reward and recognition programs for the coming year. It identifies key areas for change … Continue reading “IRF Releases Top Incentive Trends for 2017”
As we say goodbye to the old year and look forward to the new one, we also anticipate the emergence of new trends in event planning. And nowhere are we more obsessed with the latest trends than when it comes to what we eat! Regardless of the content we include in our meetings and incentives, … Continue reading “Event Planning: Food Trends and Allergies”
Airfare continues to be a major part of the travel budget for meeting and incentive planners. And while some sources are reporting they see prices leveling off, that isn’t what we’re experiencing in the real world, and we bet you aren’t either. In this article from USA Today, Rick Seaney shares 5 tips for finding bargain … Continue reading “Navigating Those Not-Always-So-Friendly Skies”
The Incentive, Meetings and Events world comes together in Las Vegas every October for IMEX—the largest hosted buyer program in North America. It’s like taking a trip around the world in three days—on your feet! It’s the premier showcase for destinations, hotels, cruise lines, DMC’s, airlines, corporate gifts and premiums—with over 3,100 exhibitors in total. … Continue reading “IMEX: The World at Your Doorstep”
According to the Incentive Research Foundation and the Incentive Federation’s 2016 Incentive Marketplace Study, there are several key factors impacting the incentive industry today. Number 1, the industry is growing. One of the major drivers of this growth is in non-sales incentives. The service economy continues to grow, and it’s predicted about 90% of the … Continue reading “What’s Trending in the Incentive Industry?”
Now, more than ever, incentives are about creating experiences. You don’t necessarily have to go to the most exotic destination or stay at the most exclusive resort. Today’s incentive winners are looking for authentic and destination specific experiences that immerse them in local culture and provide great photo ops for social media posts! So forget traditional … Continue reading “Getting out of Your Comfort Zone”
Once you’ve made the decision to use incentive travel as a business tool, you have to decide where it is you’re going to go. After all, the destination is the primary “carrot”, and you’ll want to use it to promote the trip and possibly even build a theme around it, so it isn’t a decision … Continue reading “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”
Draw the line that connects the behaviors you want to motivate with the financial outcome you want to achieve. The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) conducted research which uncovered five essential elements that, when combined, formed the core of the successful travel program. These were the items that made the program itself successful: The earning and selection … Continue reading “How to Make Your Incentive Travel Program Successful”
In June of 2013, the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives (SITE), released a white paper with some compelling figures on incentives moving business. “Travel is the sixth largest U.S. industry in terms of employment and is a top 10 employer in 48 states. In 2010, the incentive travel, meetings and events segment of tourism and … Continue reading “Incentives Move Business – Travel and the U.S. Economy”