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March 13, 2007 Story

Bon Voyage as a Bonus

Dean Harder, an independent financial adviser, went on a Rhine River cruise, which was not an option offered by his company, OneAmerica, until employees lobbied for it. The all-expenses-paid vacation — the reward given by companies to sales representatives in fast-paced, commission-driven fields — is coming back after falling out of favor a few years ago. But this time, many employers have abandoned the cookie-cutter vacation package and are offering their best workers a menu of options.

This is why a sales representative at WebEx, a videoconferencing company, was in the South Beach area of Miami Beach, Fla., was with his wife last spring, enjoying mahi-mahi that he had caught himself earlier that day on a deep-sea fishing excursion. On this trip, which the rep earned by reaching his annual sales quota, 50 WebEx employees and their guests had activity options like golf, walking tours or a scavenger hunt.

A growing number of companies are realizing that if they are going to spend thousands of dollars a person rewarding their top employees, it might be a good idea to give them choices so they can customize the experience to their preferences.

“Companies are realizing it’s not just one size fits all” when it comes to incentive trips, said a vice president of Maritz Travel, a leading provider of corporate travel services and consulting. “You really need to dive deep into what’s going to be most appealing, and it comes down to offering them choices.”

This trend is growing in conjunction with a resurgence in incentive trips, which boomed in the 1990s only to start a downward slide after the technology bust in 2000. And then came the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Now, the tide is turning.

According to the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives, companies in the United States spent $28 billion on incentive travel for top employees and customers in 2005, the first year after 9/11 in which a survey was conducted. Maritz Travel is one of the companies benefiting from this largesse; the travel provider said its incentive business had grown 28 percent over the last two years.

Many credit the growing presence of Generation X and Y in the work force for the new interest in customized travel.

“At the forefront of this movement are today’s young adults,” said David Morrison, president of Twentysomething Inc., a consulting firm. “During their coming of age, international travel became available to the common person. They’re empowered through the Internet and they’re demanding.”

The result, he said, is a kind of generational trickle-down effect. “Employees are much more sophisticated as travelers than in previous generations.”

“We’ve seen a significant change in the types of things people are doing on incentives,” said a vice president at Carlson Marketing, a corporate travel management and consulting company. “Several years ago, incentives were around tours and golf and tennis. Now people are much more active.” Snorkeling excursions have been become scuba trips, bus tours have been replaced by nature hikes and ski packages make room for snowboarders.

It is not just younger participants taking part in these activities. Baby boomers are just as likely to hop on a mountain bike. “For the older crowd, they’ve been everywhere. They want something different,” said the chairman and chief executive of Global Events Partners, a collective of destination management companies.

All this demand for new and better experiences is pushing both domestic and international resorts and popular destinations to expand and upgrade their activity offerings. For instance, Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas has added a program for guests who want to swim with dolphins, and the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Arizona just opened a new Willow Stream spa. Of course, it is not inexpensive for companies to roll out multiple red carpets, either. Running a trip with a combination platter of activities can raise costs an average of 30 percent. But the companies that pay for them do not mind, because it keeps their people happy and productive. “Travel for Americans will always be one of the best forms of motivation,” said one industry analyst. “If you customize, people will reach their goals.”

Abbreviated Version
© 2007 The New York Times