Incentive trips…..Re-evaluated and Re-designed

Due to the economic downturn, corporations are cutting back across the board, especially in the sector of travel. The pressure is on for the sales teams to produce and our clients do not want to sacrifice the trips. At Group Travel Plus, our clients are looking for new and creative ways to reward their top producers.

Keep it Local
Wherever the client is located, there are always options to create an engaging event in their area. For instance, we recently proposed a teambuilding event in Milwaukee for a Chicago-based company. We were able to keep the event under their already small budget by selecting a destination that was within driving distance. The weekend still action packed consisting of upscale off-site dinners, tours at Harley Davidson, and a teambuilding activity – that was challenging, out-of-the-box and creative for their young sales force.

Regional Events
For larger organizations, creating smaller, more intimate regional events is a great option. Ropes courses, culinary events, sports car driving experience, and rock and roll camp are all teambuilding experiences that can be designed anywhere. It does not take a high priced hotel in a far away destination to create camaraderie. We custom tailor the activities for our clients based on their needs and what is indicative to the area; sailing, skeet shooting, golf, GPS hunts, road rallies, etc.

All Inclusive Resorts
All inclusive resorts can be a cost effective way to work with group travel and offers something for everyone. These properties offer several dining options, evening entertainment, various types of water sports, all included in the price. Everything is covered from food and liquor to taxes and gratuities.

Negotiate!
Overall, we have found there are many ways to cut back on your bottom line without sacrificing the trip. At Group Travel Plus, we have great long term relationships with out hotel partners which has helped us in the long run to negotiate on behalf of our clients.

We recently had a client concerned about their 2011 trip and they were considering cancelling. We were determined to help our client keep this trip so we went back to our hotel partner and asked them to lower the already contracted room rate and some of the food and beverage costs. Luckily, the hotel was very willing to work with us. In turn, we lowered our management fee, lowered the air booking fees, and were able to reach a more palatable budget for our client. In the end, this made much more sense to the client versus a complete cancellation and a lot of internal disappointment!

Tammy Zacks, General Manager-Group Travel Plus