Incentive - October 2008 - (Page 66)

Travel 2008 Incentive Travel IQ The economy takes a toll on incentive travel, and so do airlines’ woes By Leo Jakobson he economy hasn’t affected our travel programs because they were done early this year,” says Lise Nunziato, who works in support services for Park Ridge, N.J.–based Hertz Corporation. But, she adds, that’s because the five incentive trips she planned for top salespeople from the company’s various divisions, including car rental, equipment rental and claim management, all took place earlier than usual this year. “We’re just starting to look at next year,” Nunziato says. “Will it affect those programs? Probably. Four months ago it was a good probability we were going to go to Europe [in 2009]. We are still pricing it, but now we probably won’t.” Instead, destinations like Napa Valley, Calif., and Colorado Springs, Colo., are under consideration, she says. That makes Nunziato, who participated in the 2008 Travel IQ survey, typical of the respondents. We asked: “How is the combination of a weak dollar and strong foreign currencies such as the euro affecting your choice of incentive travel destinations?” Nearly half of the respondents T said they planned to stay domestic, the most common answer. Less than one third replied no changes were forthcoming, while one fifth are considering all-inclusive resorts or cruising (nearly 30 percent of the Travel IQ respondents say they use cruising at least every three years). Sixteen percent are cutting the per-attendee budget, and 8.4 percent are cutting the number of qualifiers. The last two choices don’t appeal to Nunziato, whose programs vary in size from 20 to 30 participants to between 500 and 700. “I’d say hold off on a program if you can’t do it right,” she says. Another major factor in choosing a destination for Hertz is on-site golf, she says. “We are still very mainstream golf-oriented. Spa is second.” As are our survey respondents: 70 percent rated golf and spa “extremely important” or “very important” in selecting a destination, while just 14 percent placed them in the two lowest categories. And then we come to flying. “Airlift will be a major, major issue in all of our programs going forward,” says Margaret Jamison, manager of corporate events for IKON Office How has the growing difficulty in air travel (i.e. flight cancellations, security delays, high fuel prices) affected your choice of incentive travel destinations? 35.2% transfer for most participants We look for destinations with zero or one We look for closer destinations/not 33.2% considering long-haul destinations 21.9% We look for destinations without major security concerns 19.5% We look for destinations with sufficient but less congested airlift 5.9% We are using or considering charter flights For complete results of this year’s Travel IQ, please visit INCENTIVEMAG.COM/TRAVELIQ 29.7% No effect so far 66 | Incentive | October 2008 | incentivemag.com http://www.INCENTIVEMAG.COM/TRAVELIQ http://www.incentivemag.com

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Incentive - October 2008 Contents Editor's Note Headlines Cover Story: Face Time with Senior Executives is the Top Motivator of Cisco Systems' Chairman's Club Winners Incentive Interview Safety Incentives: Safety Drives a Limousine Service's Motivational Efforts Case Study Primer Learning: Diving into Incentives for the Mind Enhances Both Loyalty and the Bottom Line Research: Travel IQ Travel News Florida Coast to Cost Caribbean Escape Potentials Here and Now Gadgets & Power Tools: High-End Roars Seen at the Motivation Show Advertisers Index Off the Cuff

Incentive - October 2008

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