When asked what impact the economy would have in the coming year on their ability to plan and implement incentive travel programs, only 38 % of the 246 respondents to the latest Pulse Survey by the Incentive Research Foundation said it would have a positive impact, versus 60 % in March. Just over one-third of respondents—36 %—said the economy would have a negative impact, up from 22 % in the spring.
In fact, one-fifth of respondents are expecting cuts in their incentive travel budgets, according to the survey. Forty-eight % expect them to remain the same and 31 % expect a slight increase.
How exactly are incentive travel affected when budgets are tightened? Sixteen % of the incentive buyers and suppliers surveyed said programs will be moved from international to domestic destinations and 15 % said destinations will be closer to home. (That 16 % response is far less than in 2010, however, when 42 % of respondents were planning to move their trips from overseas to domestic destinations.)
Other changes made to the trips include decreasing the number of on-site inclusions per participants (21 % of respondents), and decreasing the length of the trips (21 %) and the number of room nights (18 %).
For many companies, incentive travel remains untouched despite this slightly less positive environment. Almost half of all the respondents—45 %—said there would be no effect on destination choices.
Interestingly, 42 % of the total respondents are seeing slightly higher budgets for their incentive merchandise programs, and 33 % expect growth in the value of the awards. The top incentive merchandise awards? Electronics, golf items, luggage, and housewares.