Climate change, the health crisis, the war in Ukraine... these are just some of the uncontrollable global factors that have profoundly changed the way we reward our customers and employees with a trip. Previously anecdotal and seen as a constraint, corporate social responsibility (CSR ) is becoming a matter of course, as confirmed by Laure Dupont-Hury, head of incentive travel at Lever de Rideau: " In their briefings, customers devote a whole page to the environmental and social responsibility dimension. And that goes without saying beyond carbon offsettingThis was not the case a year ago. "
In this context, trips to the other side of the world for no real reason are no longer the rewards that dreams are made of. " Going away has to mean something. Teleworking has made managers aware of the importance of the human factor: the target group of travellers is wider than ever before, sometimes including all the employees of a company. "Laurent Ouillet, head of the Autreman Group, also notes another change: " Customers ask us to include a team-building dimension on trips to unite participants. This need for cohesion is new to this type of reward. ".
According to Astrid Boutin, Events Project Manager at Echappée Belle, groups are now smaller, barely exceeding 100 people. What's more, clients are demanding that cancellation insurance be included in the contract. It's up to the agency to deal with the service providers if the trip doesn't go ahead... The same applies to Lever de Rideau and Destination Plus: more unifying content, journeys with meaningThese are the new ingredients of these rewards.
Incentive trips focused on France and Europe
In terms of destinations, despite the gradual resumption of international flights, incentive travel remains concentrated for the time being in the following areas on short and medium-haul routes. " They remain focused on France, in particular Corsica, and on Europe. "says Pascal Jeanselme, director of Sport Liberté Evènement. The same is true of a Marseille-based events agency, which is seeing a spectacular increase in requests - with very short lead times - for three- to four-day trips, mainly within a few hours of France. Monaco, Palma, Ibizaand Malta, while in France it's all about Marseille, Cannes, BordeauxLyon, l'Ile de Beauté and the Var.
At Lever de Rideau , Laure Dupont-Hury has also seen a surge in briefs: " the need to travel is obvious, with options such as excursions that were rarely available before the health crisis, and the acceptance of conditions that customers would have refused two years ago ". As well as the classic European destinations, the agency is also receiving requests for overseas destinations: Polynesia, Reunion and the West Indies, as well as for countries such as Taiwan and Indonesia, with Bali in the lead. " These are not postponements, but new briefs for journeys scheduled for 2023. "says the Director of the Incentive Travel Division.
The fact remains that the recovery is running into logistical problems: some routes no longer exist, flights are overbooked, hotels are booked... All these factors complicate the organisers' mission. Yet reward travel has a future. They are changing, reinventing themselves, with impactful content that takes precedence over the destination itself and, above all, an emphasis on the human dimension.
Three questions for Marie Allantaz, expert travel management consultantWhat are the changes to reward travel? Marie Allantaz - Companies are increasingly demanding guarantees. More generally, what used to be granted as exceptional conditions is tending to become a given. On the other hand, in the future, travel will not reward the same things as before. The human factor, such as attitude to others or the impact of teamwork, will be taken into account alongside economic objectives. Has the choice of destinations changed too? M.A. - At the moment, the priority is to get the momentum going again and get everyone back on the same page, so the changes are not yet significant. But gradually, choices will be guided by the impact of the environmental and social approach. Even if this change is not yet obvious, the trend is moving in this direction. The destination will no longer be chosen for its exoticism, but on the basis of a deeper, more meaningful approach in line with the company's DNA. Are trips to the other side of the world losing their appeal? M.A. - Postcard destinations such as the Bahamas will no longer necessarily be motivating. The unexpected, such as a bivouac in the middle of nowhere, but also the challenge of surpassing oneself, a return to one's roots, to different values and to what is essential will have more appeal than the antipodes... Reward trips will be more focused! |
