The prevailing opinion in the sociological literature is that monetary rewards do not have the same motivational power as travel. At home, travel increases the rating of the tour participant among employees and even in the family circle. Organizing an incentive trip evokes a sense of gratitude and loyalty to entrepreneurs and the company as a whole.
The cost of intensive tours per person ranges from USD 500 to 1500 and even more, and the duration of the trip is from three to seven days. Among the main countries supplying incentive tours are the United States (about 60%), the United Kingdom (20%), and Germany (11%), with the number of such tours from Japan also increasing in recent years.
The routes of incentive trips take place in France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Cyprus, as well as the United States, in particular its west coast, Florida, Caribbean island countries, etc.
The expansion of the intensive tourism market has led to the emergence of companies that specialize in organizing motivational trips. They also assist in the development of special incentive programs for labor collectives. The most famous such firms are McDonald’s Travel Company, Marit’s Travel Company, Top Value Enterprices, etc.
In all developed countries there are business tourism associations, specialized publications, training centers, and exhibitions of this business sector. For example, the American Association of Business Tourism “SITE” (Society of Insentive and Travel Executives) unites airlines, hotels, cruise lines, educational institutions, convention centers, consulting and insurance companies, incentive tour operators, and transportation companies. The main areas of SITE’s work are marketing support for its members, generalization and dissemination of experience, and publication of specialized literature.
Business Travel today is a well-developed business travel industry. Experts usually consider the concept of Business travel as a business system consisting of four subsystems. This is a quadrangle, in the corners of which are: “customer companies” (they send their employees on business trips), “companies providing certain types of services” (airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, insurance companies, etc.), “companies providing a full range of services (tour operators) in the field of business travel” and “organizations and firms in the MICE industry”.
Today, many travel companies successfully operate in the field of organizing and servicing conferences, congresses and corporate events. They quickly and efficiently organize trips of various subjects and purposes (from organizing conferences to visiting an exhibition or a specific enterprise) for both large groups (100 or more people) and individual clients.
The organization of business tours has its own specifics. As a rule, businessmen plan their trips several months in advance, which is especially true for the “high season” in the exhibition business, which falls in February-May and September-November. Travel companies cannot do without painstaking work with clients, understanding the specifics of their professional activities and a clear vision of the business purpose of their trip.
Business trips are usually organized with a full cultural and excursion program. The standard program includes accommodation, breakfasts, transfers, and visa processing. Additional services are provided, such as accreditation for an exhibition or entrance tickets, guides, interpreters, additional travel or car rental, and much more that may be necessary for a particular event.
