Incentive - February 2009 - (Page 36) TRAVEL rates at various destinations and properties. “Some client planners look at the tax rate pretty closely, but many have other focuses,” Beauchine says. “If you are looking to shave $50 per person, look at cities with a lower tax structure and a similar hotel infrastructure. What better way is there to shave the budget?” For example, the hotel, car rental and dining tax in Ft. Lauderdale is $14 per person, per night less than in Phoenix, according to a recent study by the National Business Travel Association Foundation—a group Beauchine is president of this year. For a five-night, 200person program, that’s about $70 per person—a savings of roughly $14,000. Splitting Things Up At the beginning of this year, Newton, Mass.–based Peak Performance Meetings and Incentive Travel Planning Services expanded its Web site to include a section dedicated to what it sees as a solution to incentive travel budget and image con- “You don’t have to use luxury for the trip to have high perceived value.” —Jody Huber, SEI Meetings & Incentives cerns: individual travel programs. Offering travel certificates for hotels, cruise trips or sports travel allows winners to set their own itinerary while avoiding the negative perceptions that a 200-person getaway can create, according to Karen Zilinek, director of Peak Performance. “We had one client who called us and said they were ready to cancel specifically because of the AIG incident,” says Zilinek. “In a downturned economy, clients don’t want to be perceived as spending other clients’ monies inappropriately.” Peak Performance worked with the client, and the program is now back in place. In addition to individual travel, the company is offering tiered travel programs where winners are separated into levels. “For instance, you have the first ten top achievers get to fly anywhere in the United States and get to enjoy a seven-night stay at some destination. The next level down is maybe only a four-night stay, the next level down is maybe just a weekend,” says Zilinek. 36 | Incentive | February 2009 | incentivemag.com http://www.expomeetingsmexico.com http://www.expomeetingsmexico.com http://www.incentivemag.com
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