STAY ON TOP OF THE TRENDS: SAVE 20% OFF "TRENDS" MAGAZINE UNTIL 4/15
Monthly "Trends" Magazine tells you what will happen, why it will happen and most importantly, how you can profit from it. Available in pdf, epub, mobi, mp3, and iTunes Audiobook format. You'll also receive 12 months of access to their valuable Online Library of previous issues PLUS a 3-month trial subscription to Business Briefings. Visit http://www.trends-magazine.com/route.php?p=offer&ref=HG2014 to subscribe. At checkout, use discount code: HG2014. Hurry, offer expires at midnight April 15th.
Herman Trend Alert: The New Experience of Incentive Travel April 9, 2014
Having prepared to deliver a presentation on this topic at the International Innovations in Business Travel Conference in Moscow, Joyce thought she would share the key point of her forecast for the industry. Incentive Travel currently makes up about 25 percent of the business travel industry revenue and it is growing, though slowly for now.
As tour companies like Austin Lehman, Discovery, and National Geographic Travel Programs will confirm, people, who can afford it, are craving more and more meaningful experiences. As previously forecast, instead of acquiring more "things", they are choosing to collect memories that will last a lifetime. This societal trend is reflected in the top trend in incentive travel. It is all about the "Total Incentive Travel Experience" wrote The Incentive Research Foundation in its "Trends Report 2014". In a subsequent Herman Trend Alert, we will explore how this trend is playing out globally in the corporate world.
Right now, 47 percent of incentive travel planners are including some element of Corporate Social Responsibility in their program. Whether it is just promoting Marriott Hotels' "Book a Meeting, Make a Difference" or Kimpton Hotels' "Great Meetings Great Causes" or Ritz Carlton: "Give Back Getawaysâ€, people appreciate the opportunity to be connected with a higher purpose. Thus you can expect to see more Charity Bike Builds, Habitat for Humanity, and even Beehive Building to be part of incentive travel programs.
But that's not all. Food and wellness is at 62 percent already and growing. So incentive travel planners will be buying more spa visits, more golf outings, more rafting trips, more sessions of swimming with the dolphins, and more spinning classes.
Many people who are the recipients of the incentive trips are concerned about their family members who have sacrificed so that they could excel. They use these incentive trips as opportunities to say "Thank you" to their long-suffering families.
Whether on the golf course, in the spa, or under the sea, especially the Millennials and Generation Xers will expect, no, demand emotionally charged, unforgettable experiences; this memorable out-of-the-office engagement will increase the return on investment and positively affect employee retention as well. Once corporations move beyond their fear of exposure, they will embrace incentive travel's tremendous competitive advantage and expand their programs to include many other types of employees.
*********
EDISON AWARDS' "MEET THE INNOVATORS FORUM"
Want to see the leading edge of innovation? Then you won't want to miss the Edison Awards' "Meet the Innovators Forum and Innovators' Showcase in San Francisco, April 29th and 30th. Elon Musk is accepting their Edison Achievement Award and speaking. For more information, visit http://edisonawards.com/2014EdisonAwards/.
*********
EMPLOYEE RETENTION = EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT? NOT ALWAYS!
Just because employees are not leaving does not necessarily mean that they are engaged. In fact, studies tell us over 45% of today's workers are disengaged, costing their employers millions. Help your supervisors, managers, and executives to know what works and what doesn't to keep your good people. For a wealth of information and product offerings, visit our retention website at http://www.retentionconnection.com.
*********
To read this Herman Trend Alert on the web: http://www.hermangroup.com/alert/archive_4-9-2014.html.
********
Herman Trend Alerts are written by Joyce Gioia, a Strategic Business Futurist, Certified Management Consultant, author, and professional speaker. Archived editions are posted at http://www.hermangroup.com/archive.html
The Herman Group, 7112 Viridian Lane, Austin, Texas 78739 USA 336.210.3548 www.hermangroup.com
