How can your company benefit from incentive travel? A study of the benefits of offering incentive travel

Abstract

The aim of this study is to create an accurate and valid list of the different benefits of Incentive Travel, given the relevant importance that his tool has for many companies that have been using it around the world. In addition, some data is going to be collected with the goal of identifying which are the most important benefits that different profiles of professionals attribute to Incentive Travel, so that an overview of real experiences is being provided.

Even though its widespread use due to its feasible attributes, Incentive Travel has not been theoretically studied and researched the deepness it deserves. Therefore, there is a considerable gap of knowledge regarding Incentive Travel, offering then a smart opportunity for further research. The act of gathering and creating a compilation of the benefits of Incentive Travel programs, far away from being something never done before, it can be such an useful tools for travel agents looking for new customers or for members in a company willing to convince the company’s board of directors for using Incentive Travel.

The analysis of the methodology applied to this study follows an interpretivism research philosophy, as the focus was on gathering rich insights into subjective meanings rather than generalising. In addition, the knowledge has been constructed using a combination of both deductive and inductive research approaches. Qualitative data has been collected and analysed by means of semi-structured interviews.

By analysing the data that has been collected about the benefits of Incentive Travel, the most relevant benefits have been identified and gathered in a list of eight categories, which were later on compared and complemented with the benefits regarded in the theory. Therefore, a definitive gathering list of the benefits of Incentive Travel is the main result of this study.