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August 29, 2016 / in Incentive Travel Now more than ever before, luxury is a subjective term. For example, almost everyone sees an off the rack Armani suit as a luxury item, but the luxuriousness of the suit might not meet the standards of a bespoke suit from Kiton, which could cost thousands of dollars more. The same principle applies to luxurious incentive travel trips that companies use to motivate business performance. There are lots of “luxury” options, but not all of them offer the same level of luxuriousness. If you want offer your employees a trip that truly typifies luxury, including the following elements in the trip is an excellent way to kick off the trip planning process. 1. First Class Travel Luxurious incentive travel trips begin the moment you board the plane, train, or boat to embark on your journey. When creating a trip that focuses on luxury, first class is the only way to travel. Regardless of how you travel, first class accommodations typically offer the most room, the most comfortable seating, and the highest level of access to the transportation provider’s value-added services, such as gourmet meals, diverse IT capabilities, and digital entertainment. 2. Five Star Hotel Accommodations After you set the standard for luxurious incentive travel trips by scheduling first class travel arrangements, it’s important to extend the luxuriousness to the hotel where you stay. Options for five star hotels involve some familiar names, such as Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons, but there may also be independent luxury at the destination that offer the same level of service. An incentive travel trip planner will apprise you of the five star hotel options at the destination, and help you decide which of them most offers the type of luxury you’re looking for in the trip. 3. Activities Involving Luxury Products Examples of activities that involve luxury products include visits to famous wineries, eating at the best restaurants, and taking excursions to famous foot shopping districts, such as Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and Savile Row in London. If you’re dedicated to offering the most luxurious trip, activities at the destination should ideally feature access to luxury products that your hard working employees typically don’t sample of purchase just every day. 4. On-Site Travel Staff Another key aspect of a luxurious trip is having on-site travel staff with you for the duration of your journey. From resolving unforeseen glitches in the travel itinerary, to scheduling additional activities at the destination, to assisting travelers with personal wants and needs, on-site travel staff essentially function as assistants that help you enjoy the leisure that typifies luxury travel. Who We Are Incentive Travel Solutions is full-service planner of luxurious incentive travel trips, with over 15 years of experience in the business. When a client wants a truly luxurious excursion, we step to the plate and present a fine range of options that helps the client plan a trip that’s both luxurious and unique. To put our expertise in incentive travel to work for your company, call us today at (704) 540-1482, or fill out our contact form. We look forward to helping you create a luxury travel trip that creates memories that last a lifetime, helps bring employees closer together as a team, and motivates them to achieve a high level of success to qualify for future trips.

September 2, 2016 / in Incentive Travel Incentive travel is an unfamiliar term to many, but specially planned incentive travel trips to amazing destinations can play an essential role in making top business performers feel adequately compensated, and motivating them to perform at a high level to qualify for the next incentive travel trip. Employers benefit from the trips for the relaxation and pleasure they offer. Employers benefit from the high level of productivity that justifies offering the exciting journeys. Benefits for Employees and Companies Over the past five years, studies have revealed statistics from various organizations that point to the need for incentive-based travel trips as a much needed motivational tool. Below, we look at three benefits for employers and three benefits for their employees. 1. For Employers: An Incentive Travel Planner Handles Arrangements When we say we handle arrangements, we mean that we literally plan and oversee all aspects of the trip, from securing airline contracts, to negotiating hotel accommodations, to ensuring that enjoyable activities occur as planned, and much more. The same detail to attention also applies to the return trip. 2. For Employees: Employees Develop Camaraderie With Coworkers Your employees may already enjoy a good sense of camaraderie; otherwise, they wouldn’t work together well enough to qualify for incentive travel. But incentive travel trips can bring them closer together, as they share rich, cultural experiences that promote friendship and not just a sense of professional respect. 3. For Employers: Dedicated Travel Staff Attend the Entire Journey When you and your top performers embark on the amazing journey, you travel with a team of sidekicks who are your very own travel staff. The staff members attend to your wants and needs during the trip and resolve any unforeseen discrepancies in the travel itinerary. On a standard vacation, you would do this on your own. On an incentive travel trip, they are handled on your behalf. 4. For Employees: The Trip is Anything But a Common Vacation Because incentive travel is offered to top performers, many of whom are well-compensated enough to afford their own phenomenal vacations, the key is to make the award provide a journey that has two key characteristics: a world class destination that involves activities that would impress an international diplomat on his or her initial trip to the appointment’s destination. 5. For Employers: Employees Return With a Renewed Sense of Vigor It can be a bit of a shock going from leisurely back to the daily grind, but studies have shown that incentive travel, when employees return to work feeling recharged, not drained by the trip. Rather, it helps them return to work with a renewed sense of vitality that has a positive impact on coworker motivation and morale. Your next trip promises the same result. 6. For Employees: The Trip Is a Novel Reward Compared to Others Trips Performance bonuses, gift raises, stock options, promotions: These are common ways that companies reward top performers. While many folks take the famous saying, incentive travel can speak even louder when it comes to rewarding success. There’s a reason we say “the best memories in life often come from the most amazing trips” create memories that last a lifetime.” Ready to Add Incentive Travel to the Employee Reward Program? If so, partnering with Incentive Travel Solutions to develop an incentive travel trip puts you among a select class of companies that has extensive experience creating this type of compensation, and offering it in a way that is highly distinctive. Over the years, we have found that there is great reward for employees who complete a significant record for business success and serves as great motivators for employees whose compensation is tied to performance. To get started on creating an incentive-based travel plan to reward employees whose success is imperative for the success of your company, call us today at (704) 540-1482, or use our contact form. We look forward to hearing about your wants and needs that will define your travels.

September 10, 2016 / in Incentive Travel Articles People love to travel, and they also hate it. If you send them on a two-week vacation to paradisal Fiji, they’re likely to have one of the best warm weather experiences of their life, and long to revisit the white sand as soon as they can. However, if you send them on a business trip to the same location, but with little to no time for leisure activities, the meaningfulness of visiting the delightful geography is largely lost. Vacations and Incentive Travel When we say people love to travel, we generally mean they are incredibly fond of leaving their locale — and their cares there — behind for all while. Taking traditional vacations is how most people satisfy their love for leisure travel, but embarking on incentive travel trips can be just as appealing, if not more so. After all, incentive travel trips are on the employer’s dime, and they typically involve amazing, novel activities that most people wouldn’t plan on their own. If your company is considering using incentive travel as reward for its top performers, you have at least three reasons to do so, which are three of the biggest reasons why people love to travel. 1. Escape We often talk about escapism from a negative perspective, but the fact is: Taking an occasional break from our normal routine is psychologically healthy, as it allows us to press our proverbial mental reset button. People routinely “escape” in ways that aren’t healthy, but a well-planned incentive travel trip is a salubrious way to say goodbye to the daily grind for a while. 2. Education Here, we’re talking about education in terms of becoming more cosmopolitan by acquiring experiential knowledge. You can read about world class cities and nature sites in books, and you can see pictures of famous monuments on the internet any time you want. But nothing is quite like experiencing them firsthand, which engages all of the senses and not just the visual. 3. Exploration The desire to know more is one of the strongest inclinations we experience, and incentive travel helps satisfy our incurable curiosity. Examples of locations at trip destinations that travelers love to explore include: world class museums, indigenous eateries, stunning private beaches, ancient wineries and vineyards, and gorgeous nature preserves, to name just a few. Ready to Plan Incentive Travel? If you decide that incentive travel would be a good option for your company’s employee reward program, Incentive Travel Solutions is here to help your plan the perfect trip, and manage the trip from start to finish to ensure that everything goes as planned. Whether you prefer to stay in the Western Hemisphere or travel somewhere less familiar and more exotic, we’ll help you plan a trip whose exciting destination and activities motivate employees to qualify for the next trip. To get started on planning an incentive travel trip for your top performers, give us a call today at (704) 540-1482, or use the contact page on our website. Your well-deserved adventure awaits!

November 5, 2016 / in Incentive Trip We don’t think of employees who take a well-earned vacation as absconding from their work duties, but we commonly perceive vacations as leisurely affairs that, while they provide a much needed break from work life, don’t exactly encourage us to return to the workplace ready to pick up where we left off, because we desire more vacation, not more work. However, according to a recent report from Project: Time Off — an organization that researches and promotes the benefits of taking vacation from work — that perception is largely incorrect. From the report: “The majority of HR managers agree (77%) that employees who take most or all of their vacation time are more productive in their jobs than those who do not. Further, HR managers believe that taking [and] using vacation time leads to higher performance (75%) and increased job satisfaction (78%).” When you consider how we view non-human work resources, the report starts sounds spot on. For example, no one with knowledge of IT hardware would expect a desktop to perform like a charm if it wasn’t shut off for a year, and an experienced online marketing manager wouldn’t expect a regional email campaign to generate leads 24/7. Yet, oddly enough, we think of humans, who tire far easier than hardware and software, as being capable of working busy schedules without a break. “Use It or Lose It” Vs. “Rollover” Most companies offer vacation on one of two models: the use it or lose it model, in which employees must use all of their yearly vacation days or relinquish them at year’s end; or the “rollover” model, in which unused vacation days are transferred from one year to the next. According to the same report, “(85%) of talent managers at ‘use it or lose it’ organizations agree that employees who take most or all of their vacation time are more productive in their jobs — 16-percentage points higher than HR managers at firms with rollover policies (69%). Fully seven in ten respondents (70%) in organizations with a ‘use it or lose it’ policy believe that employees who take all of their vacation will stay with their job longer, while just more than half (55%) of those with rollover policies agree.” One of the biggest reasons for the discrepancy is that companies with rollover vacation policies don’t feel bad about creating a work culture where employees seldom take vacation, because the employees technically don’t lose the vacation time they don’t take. However, once a person racks up hundreds of vacation days, there’s simply not a practical way to take all of them. Being paid for saved vacation days — which typically happens when you retire or willfully switch employers — is the realistic reward. Yet, as the Project: Time Off report shows, being paid for unused vacation and actually using vacation are dogs of different colors when it comes to employee motivation, employee performance, and even employee attrition. If there’s a central message for employers, it’s this: In terms of productivity, not paying for yearly vacation days could end up far costlier than footing the bill for them. Who We Are Incentive Travel Solutions is a planner and facilitator of incentive-based travel trips to prime destinations around the globe. Like standard vacation time, travel trips provide a much needed break for hard working employees, and help create a sense of camaraderie between employees that is taken back to the workplace at trip’s end. To inquire about our services, please call us today at (704) 540-1482, or use our contact form. We look forward to serving your company.

November 18, 2016 / in Press and News You would think that most people don’t need much encouragement to plan a nice vacation and embark on journey that spirits them away from commonplace surroundings and daily stress. Yet, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal , “In total, Americans left 658 million vacation days unused [in 2015].” The article goes on to mention that “222 million [of the 658 million unused vacation days] were forfeited because they couldn’t be rolled over or paid out in any way.” However, having a rollover policy for vacation days instead of a “use it or lose it” policy is no guarantee that more vacation days will be taken. It isn’t uncommon for workers to retire holding tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid vacation days — and sometimes more. Reasons to Take a Vacation There are plenty of need-based reasons that understandably stand in the way of taking a vacation, such as a temporary lack of disposable income or being the sole caregiver for an ill relative. But if a person refrains from vacationing to appease the tycoon-ish ways of his or her employer, that’s not an acceptable reason. The vacation days should be taken; below are three reasons why. 1. Supports Physical Health According to a report in The New York Times , based on a 2000 study that observed 12,000 men for nine years who had a high risk for coronary heart disease, “Those who failed to take annual vacations had a 21 percent higher risk of death from all causesand were 32 percent more likely to dieof a heart attack." When we have health issues, we often try to implement healthier habits. Vacationing should be one of those habits. 2. Supports Mental Health In our capitalistic, work-driven culture, we like to think of ourselves as workers who can withstand lots of stress to capture the light at the end of the tunnel: a nice paycheck. However, unless the stress is released, it can lead to mental fatigue, anxiety, and a general sense of malaise, regardless of how much money we stuff in our pockets. According to a 2009 study, Canadian researchers Joudrey and Wallace report that “Active leisure pursuits and taking vacations helped to buffer or ameliorate the job stress among a sample of almost 900 lawyers.” Whether you’re a lawyer who has a big caseload or a legal secretary who could use a second set of hands to multitask, vacation helps you de-stress. 3. Boosts Job Performance Can something that takes you away from your job improve your job performance when you return? According to Live in the Now — a web-based organization that promotes a holistic approach to good health — every additional 10 hours of vacation time employees took, their performance ratings from supervisors increased 8 percent. The rejuvenation received from vacations leads to greater productivity and creativity once people return to their job.” Who We Are Incentive Travel Solutions is a planner and facilitator of incentive-based travel trips that reward top performers with world class travel destinations and activities that create lasting memories. To give your hardworking employees the break they need, please call us today at (704) 540-1482 to start the planning process, or use our contact form. We look forward to helping you travel in style!

December 2, 2016 / in Press and News If human resources are a company’s most valuable resources, as a famous business perspective claims, then employee productivity is the lifeblood of company. Has employee productivity at your company taken a dive? If so, it’s important to recognize the signs and consider whether they have more to do with factors in the work environment than employees’ personal integrity. With this in mind, let’s look at four common signs that indicate a lack of productivity due to a lack of motivation, and explain how incentive-based travel trips can help address the phenomenon. 1. Company Meetings are Used to “Catch Up” Sometimes, company meetings need to be held to apprise employees of unexpected contingencies in a business project, or to brainstorm solutions for a sudden obstacle. But meetings are ideally used to move everyone forward regarding the work in question. This only happens when employees maintain good inter-communication between meetings. Workers who don’t maintain good communication and only seem “in it for themselves” often express a dissatisfaction with their work or with the workplace, such as a low level of compensation that is incongruous with the high level of effort they put forth in order to succeed. 2. Near Maximum Number of Sick Days Taken Management doesn’t blink when an employee takes all of his annual vacation days, but when he uses all of his sick days, too — especially in the absence of a doctor’s letter — his work behavior can look lazy and disengaged. However, before managers write him off as a barnacle on the corporate ship, they should consider whether the unproductive behavior is tied to unproductive practices in the workplace, such as offering more criticism than praise. 3. Heavy Internet Use That Isn’t Work Related At most companies, it’s acceptable to read an online fashion blog or sports column during lunch hour, but when leisurely web surfing occurs throughout the rest of the day, it takes employees away from their tasks, or at least slows them down. In many cases, though, the root of indiscriminate internet use in the workplace isn’t due to simple laziness. Rather, it’s often tied to a lack of satisfaction with work due to a lackluster employee reward structure. 4. Vacations Sought at the Busiest Time of Year After your employees work in your industry for a while, they learn which times of the year are busiest and most stressful for your company. Those are the times when you need your employees most, but if they don’t like the work environment, the dissatisfaction is likely to be magnified during periods of heavy business. Playing hooky with vacation days is an easy way to de-stress for a few weeks, but when workers return to their job, they often find that vacation leave makes work pile up, which creates more dissatisfaction and a desire for more vacation. To help end the vicious cycle, consider whether employees truly have a fair work situation. If they don’t, make it right. How We Can Help It’s tempting to write off non-productive employees off as lazy, selfish, entitled, etc. But when employees seem to exhibit these qualities, it can be symptomatic of a larger problem: a lack of meaningful compensation that leads to a lack of morale, which compromises productivity. At Incentive Travel Solutions, we find that highly enjoyable, incentive-based travel trips can increase employee productivity in two corollary ways: By providing meaningful compensation for great performance, and by motivating employees to qualify for the compensation. To learn about our services, give us a call today at (704) 540-1482, or inquire by using our contact form.

December 10, 2016 / in Employee Motivation Most seasoned executives have been to a company meeting where employees stared off into space with glazed eyes and appeared to be disengaged. When the point of the rendezvous was to help them re-engage and move along with business, if the meeting was held right after lunch — the hour for the traditional Mexican siesta — that may be the problem. But jokes aside, the disengagement could instead stem from a lack of meaningful performance incentives. Strategies for Improving Engagement According to business psychology, there are hundreds of approaches companies can take to increase the engagement — and, by extension, improve the performance — of their workers. But those strategies have a broader range of application than others. Below, we list four such strategies, and comment on each from the perspective of employee motivation. 1. Be Generous With Financial Compensation Mark Twain famously said, “The lack of money is the root of all evil.” His statement is a humorous rejoinder to the Biblical observation that money is root of all evil, but to employees who are under financially compensated, Twain’s aphorism speaks the truth. Misery from lackluster compensation leads workers to feel unappreciated, which leads to low morale, which leads to a lack of motivation to be engaged, which leads to lack of productivity. In reality, not being generous with employees can be costlier than ponying up and providing merit pay, performance-based financial incentives, or at least praise if you have the kind of culture for it. 2. Offer Incentive Travel Trips to Top Performers Incentive travel trips to unforgettable destinations that entail awesome activities don’t replace financial compensation, but they can serve as a meaningful motivator to upper level employees who are accustomed to receiving generous bonuses, raises, stock options, etc. The key is to ensure that the trip is only awarded once cost value creation, as the novelty of the journey is largely responsible for motivating travelers to perform well enough to qualify for future travel. 3. Implement a Well-Defined Promotional Track Not to be rhetorical, but what kind of employees would you rather have: ones who don’t mind staying in their current position forever, or ones who are motivated to succeed greatly and earn their place of higher value? The company offers job promotions, but not every business gives its employees a clear, experience-based and performance-based appraisal of how the promotional process works. According to Peter Vastak, Director Sales & Marketing at Engraving Services Co., “Replacement costs for an employee can cost a company anywhere between 100-250% of the employee’s annual salary.” Creating a visible career idea of the promotional path helps keep them in-house and motivated to reach the next tier of success in their work life. 4. Lead With “Carrots” instead of “Sticks” In The Carrot Principle — a seminal book on employee performance in relation to leadership styles — researchers Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick state that “Recognition answers a basic human need: to matter to those with whom we work.” Furthermore, “[Th]e #1 reason employees leave an organization is because they felt unappreciated.” A style that recognizes mistakes far more than successes is a management style that leads with “sticks” — a style that recognizes mistakes far more than successes — instead of a management style that leads with “carrots” — a style that essentially takes the opposite tack. If you want employees involved in their work, you need to keep them engaged to engage more deeply with company business if your business would take aim for greatness! Who We Are Incentive Travel Solutions is an incentive travel trip planner that specializes in creating and managing unforgettable, incentive-based travel trips that support teambuilding and motivation in the workplace. To inquire about our services, please call us today at (704) 540-1482, or use our contact form. We look forward to learning about your business and its reward structure.

December 14, 2016 / in Press and News For centuries, setting goals that motivate workers has been a top priority for successful companies. Over the years, opportunities to motivate workers have changed along with technology. But one thing that hasn’t is the same: Money is a highly sought after motivator. There are two reasons why: Money helps ensure that our needs are met, and it gives us the power to get material things we want. This is why profitable companies reward top achievers with both cash incentives and non-monetary incentives that have an obvious cash value. Ideas for Non-Monetary Incentives For most companies, monetary incentives comprise a fairly straightforward range of options, such as performance bonuses, annual salary raises, and stock options. Non-monetary incentives, on the other hand, beg the question: What else? Practically anything people value can be used, which begins by identifying the right motivational goals. If your company is facing this challenge, below are ideas for setting goals that motivate workers not with dollars, but with what money can buy. 1. Luxury Personal Items Luxury personal items range from private jets to gem studded jewelry. The luxuriousness of the products often supplies them with novelty, but items that tend to generate the most motivation are those that don’t cost much to maintain and essentially last a lifetime. A watch from Rolex or Cartier is an example of this type of reward. The piece costs a few thousand dollars, which is significantly less than the amount of compensation the recipient generated over the review or goal achieving period. High-end luxury items may not be a good fit with your company’s culture, but if they are, they’re a surefire way to commend success. 2. Incentive Travel Trips As we’ve seen through our experience in the incentive travel business, incentive travel trips to unique destinations are a great option for setting goals that motivate employees. The intent is to perform well enough to qualify for the trip — and you, as the employer, set the qualifications. Exactly what types of trips are we talking about? This blog on traveling California’s Napa Valley region provides an example of an incentivized goal that involves world class travel. 3. Business Award Plaques Almost everyone wants to be recognized for his or her achievements in the workplace. Enter award plaques, which come in a variety styles and feature engraved messages that commemorate the recipient’s achievement. While most business award plaques are highly affordable, their value is primarily psychological. They’re one of the few types of awards that are inexpensive to buy, yet mean a great deal to the recipient. 4. Waiting Job Promotion s A lower employee turnover rate than promoting employees to higher positions in the company generates a lower employee turnover rate than companies that sift through resumes, looking for the best “killer” behind high-level positions. Taking the promoting trip with approval is a great way to make workers feel the value of being selected. The key is to establish a program that provides employees with clear guidance on how to achieve goals that trigger promotions. Who We Are Incentive Travel Solutions helps companies plan unforgettable incentive travel trips to unique destinations across the globe. In addition to handling the travel and lodging arrangements for a trip, we send trained travel staff to assist. That’s who attend to your wants and needs, and resolve any unforeseen issues within the travel itinerary. To learn more about how incentive travel trips can assist with setting goals that motivate employees, call us today at (704) 540-1482, or fill out our contact form. We look forward to helping you explore the opportunity of motivating your workers with incentive travel trips.

January 2, 2017 / in Incentive Travel Program We all know what an incentive is. It’s something that motivates us to behave in a certain way in order to experience the benefit that is the incentive. This is the basic psychology behind incentive travel programs, which offer a highly desirable trip to a unique destination, plus lots of exciting activities, to people who meet the condition that triggers the incentive. Who takes incentive travel trips? Incentive travel trips are usually taken by high-performing professionals, who play a major role in bolstering their companies’ revenue. The trips are commonly taken by executives. It’s also common for a particular group within a company — such as a sales team — to take incentive travel trips. How do people qualify for the trips? It varies from company to company, but the qualification generally involves a financial goal, such as increasing the bottom line by a certain percentage within a certain period of time; or a business goal that positively impacts company finances, such as breaking last year’s goal for transitioning leads into clients. How long do the trips typically last? There is no set length, but anywhere between one and three weeks of total travel is roughly the standard. The length also depends on the distance of the destination from the starting point, activities on the way to the destination or return trip, and the time budgeted has on a trip’s duration. What kind of destinations are chosen? Destinations are typically chosen for one of three reasons: natural beauty, culture, or historical significance. Many times, you’ll find all three distinctions within the same trip, but one of them usually serves as the primary reason for selecting the destination, as well as the travel route. What kind of activities are selected? The best incentive travel trips entail exciting, unique activities that are native to the destination and/or created by the trip planner to provide a unique experience. Regardless of the “unique” activities that are planned, shopping, dining, and sightseeing as one pleases are often a part of the itinerary, as well. What tasks do trip planners perform? It depends on which planner you use, but a full-service trip planner does the following: coordinates all official travel and lodging arrangements, plans special activities that amaze travelers, performs a cost analysis to ensure the trip stays within budget, and sends a retinue of travel staff on the trip to assist travelers and take care of any details. About Our Company Incentive Travel Solutions is an experienced incentive travel trip planner that’s helped numerous companies reward top performers with unique trips that create lifelong memories, and bring colleagues closer together as a team through shared travel experiences. We plan trips to some of the most naturally beautiful and historically cultured destinations in the world. To inquire about our services, please call us today at (704) 540-1482, or send us an email using our contact form. We look forward to helping you plan the trip of a lifetime in celebration of the accomplishments of your company’s finest human resources.

January 16, 2017 / in Employee Motivation What goes into sales motivation plans that work? There can be several answers. Below, we present four strategies that your company can use to create sales motivation plans that work best for increasing sales. If you need help implementing incentive-based travel in the reward structure, we’re here to assist you. 1. Leading the Team With “Carrots” Instead of “Sticks” In the book The Carrot Principle , researchers Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton explore whether praise, criticism, or a combination of both is most motivating to employees. Because no sales team operates perfectly, most companies need to use both approaches. However, the authors find that balancing sticks with carrots, or offering more carrots than sticks, creates the highest motivation. Offering verbal rewards can be as important as offering tangible awards, the researchers found. 2. Offering Small Rewards Leading Up to a Large Reward A large reward, such as incentive travel trip to a unique destination, can create a high level of motivation. To help sustain the motivation, consider offering small performance rewards, such as monthly bonuses for generating quality leads or closing sales, that lead up to the large reward. Offering small rewards is money well-spent for two reasons: It encourages employees to achieve high success over both the short-term and the long-term, and it helps them qualify for the large reward. 3. Offering a Reward With a High Degree of Novelty Small incentive-based awards are a great way to sustain motivation from month to month, but offering a large award that has a high degree of novelty adds a new level of incentive to the equation. Novelty means different things to people, but one form of novelty everyone seems to appreciate is traveling to a unique, worldwide destination, and enjoying special activities while there. This is why we’ve created a successful business out of helping companies plan incentive travel trips. 4. Rewards Given According to the Incentive Program When it comes to incentive-based motivation, one of the worst things a company can do is fail to honor terms on which rewards are given. Whether an employee fails to receive a weekly bonus or an annual incentive travel trip, the motivation that came from the prospect of receiving it is gone. If a company doesn’t follow through on its incentive program, it can become like the boy who cried wolf. Employees are less likely to take future incentives seriously, which essentially means that opportunities to motivate them become fewer. About Our Company Incentive Travel Solutions is an incentive trip planner that helps companies plan and embark on novel travels to amazing destinations, and enjoy unforgettable activities during the journey. Trips we facilitate aren’t like standard vacations. They’re designed to create memories that last a lifetime, which is a major element of motivating employees to qualify for incentive-based travel. To inquire about our services, call us today at (704) 540-1482, or refer to the contact form on our website. We look forward to learning about your company and presenting travel options for rewarding your hard working sales team — options that create sales motivation plans that work.

January 31, 2017 / in Incentive Trip Each year, thousands of companies send top performing employees on corporate travel trips — also called “incentive travel trips” — that serve as performance-based rewards. In addition to functioning as a show of appreciation for great work, a corporate travel trip serves as a motivator to continue the excellent performance and qualify for next year’s travel trip. This is why many companies wisely use the services of a corporate travel trip provider. What Makes a Good Travel Trip Provider? When it comes to service quality, the incentive travel industry is like any other. Some providers exceed expectations, while others leave you feeling like you didn’t get a good return on your investment. In many cases, one or more of the following factors separates an unforgettable travel experience that leaves people wanting more from one that leaves more to be desired. 1. Destinations Any destination that’s safe and legal to travel to should be an option. However, the final destination should be world class, not just the best location a particular region or nation has to offer. When selecting a destination, the emphasis should be on choosing one that’s truly unique in a positive way. Corporate travel destinations often feature nice things you might experience on a summer vacation, such as good weather, gorgeous scenery, and historical sites. But they tend to be places sought out by sophisticated travelers who want to see the best the world has to offer. 2. Activities Activities can be separated into three phases: activities while traveling to the destination, activities while there, and activities while journeying back home. Like destinations, activities should be highly distinctive — and this is where a good corporate travel provider really excels. Instead of only scheduling your group to attend activities that are common to the destination, a good planner will actually create activities, the likes of which are difficult replicate. To see what we mean, check out what our company arranged for a group of colleagues who traveled to Rome. 3. Travel Staff To make a corporate travel trip truly relaxing and hassle-free for travelers, good trip planners send along a group of trained travel staff, who leap into action to resolve unforeseen issues, and offer assistance to travelers both individually and as a group. The provider handles all of the planning for the trip, and the travel staff make sure the plans transpire as expected. 4. Budget Most memorable corporate travel trips aren’t inexpensive, but the majority of companies that plan the trips do so on a budget. Taking a trip that runs over budget can dampen the excitement for cost-conscious executives and call into question whether a travel trip should be planned next year. A careful cost analysis should be performed before the journey officially begins. About Our Company Incentive Travel Solutions is an experienced corporate travel trip provider that plans trips to worldwide locations. In doing so, we create journeys whose destinations, activities, and staff service turn them into memories that last a lifetime, and help bring colleagues closer together as a team through shared travel experiences — all within the client’s budget. To inquire about our services, please call us today at (704) 540-1482, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to helping you reward your top performers, and motivate them to keep up the excellent work to qualify for future travels.

February 5, 2017 / in Incentive Travel Companies Incentive Travel Solutions is a company that specializes in incentive travel. If this is your first time checking around the idea of planning an incentive travel trip for your company, you may have some questions about what our “specialization” involves. To help you understand what incentive travel is and help you decide whether an incentive travel trip should be in your company’s future, we answer some of the most commonly asked questions about incentive travel and what we do to make it a reality. What is an incentive travel trip? An incentive travel trip is a trip that people must qualify to take based on a preset goal. The trip commonly serves as an incentive for reaching a business goal, which typically takes months to attain. Everyone who reaches the goal takes the trip and enjoys it as a reward for their hard work and success. Who takes incentive travel trips? Incentive travel trips are typically taken by groups of business professionals. For example, a company might send its sales team on an incentive travel trip for shattering last year’s sales quota. Who receives the opportunity to qualify for a trip is up to the company that plans the excursion. What do incentive travel trip planners do? Incentive travel trip planners have four main functions: They help clients choose wonderful trip destinations, plan unique activities at the destinations and along the way, handle all travel and lodging arrangements, and send a group of travel staff along to provide basic assistance and resolve unforeseen issues. What are the options for destinations and activities? As long as it is safe and legal to travel to a destination, an incentive trip planner can facilitate a trip there. The same applies to activities; practically anything is possible, as long as travelers are safe. In most cases, the goal is to create a unique, luxurious, truly unforgettable travel experience. How much do incentive travel trips usually cost? Because the cost of travel, trip activities, and lodging varies widely based on where you go and what you do, the best way to receive an accurate expense estimate is to consult with one of our planners, and discuss what you want out of the trip. There’s no obligation; the consultation is free. Why should I choose Incentive Travel Solutions? We believe we’re best option for four reasons: we create breathtaking trips that consistently motivate workers to qualify for the journey, provide a novel reward for executives who are accustomed to monetary rewards, bring colleagues closer together through the one in a lifetime trip experience, and plan trips that fit a company’s budget and work culture perfectly. Contact Us Today To learn more about our incentive travel trip services, please call us today at (704) 540-1482, or send us an email through our contact form. We’ve helped many companies motivate employees to achieve high business goals, and come closer together as co-workers by sharing an unforgettable good time as a group. We’d love to do the same for your company!