Incentive Travel Planning: Why It Pays To Work With A Professional

We could talk about the benefits of incentive travel all day long. How it improves employee morale. Drives them to higher levels of productivity. Increases satisfaction and retention.

BUT. There is a caveat to obtaining these benefits. And that is the simple difference between hiring an incentive professional versus an organization putting a program together on their own. In short, a homegrown incentive program is subject to the growing pains and mistakes that come with any learning experience. Hiring a professional—someone who has helped create incentive travel programs in multiple industries and work cultures, like the team at Carrousel Travel—ensures that everything will be good from the get-go.

The Value of Incentive Professionals

The biggest value that incentive professionals can offer is straight-up experience. As IncentiveMag notes, these people know what works and what doesn’t – and how to handle problems as they arise – while achieving the vision of the organization. It allows in-house employees to focus on their primary job duties without distraction while the incentive planner handles the rest.

Feeding into experience is knowledge about venues. The advantages and disadvantages of different locations, how to best serve the needs of your employees, all while delivering an unforgettable experience. It’s not something that happens by perusing resorts online. Our team at Carrousel Travel has intimate knowledge of domestic and international locations as well as existing relationships with resorts.

It’s those relationships that give Carrousel Travel representatives more bargaining power. Incentive professionals can promise repeat business from their different clients as a tactic, for example, to negotiate a better price. And this is just one aspect of the budget with which a professional can easily manage. We know what to ask for, what concessions to negotiate; from complimentary rooms and audio/visual to attrition and cancellation policies.

Another benefit implied in these different aspects? A professional can save you time. Not just in allowing employees to focus on their job, or being able to draw up a list of possible locations, but by simply having that mental blueprint of how to plan incentive travel, meetings and events. Internalizing the to-do list is just a part of how incentive professionals work. It’s not something people can just pick up on; it’s a career.

Know When to Pull In the Professionals

We live in a DIY culture. But whether it’s a plumbing project or a corporate incentive program, sometimes it’s best to call in the professionals.  Incentive program planning is one of those times.

Meet the team at Carrousel Travel to learn how you can leverage the value we provide for incentive travel planning!