a day ago
5 Ways to Cut Incentive Travel Costs Without Winners Knowing
Cost increases as a result of tariffs are hitting event budgets hard at a time when planners have already been navigating rising costs due to inflation. What can incentive planners do?
Recent Skift Meetings research found that rising costs are plaguing the vast majority of planners: When asked about the main concerns impacting their jobs right now, 90% said potential cost increases, and 82% said they expect event costs to increase in 2025–2026 because of the tariffs.
This applies to incentive travel as well as meetings. Especially hard hit is incentive merchandise, combined with an increase in the length of time it takes to receive goods.
Planners are being forced to find creative budget cuts that don't impact the incentive experience. Skift Meeting' new in-depth industry report, Rethinking Incentives, offers these 5 solutions.
1. Focus on Perks
Look for ways to increase the perceived value of the incentive experience without increasing hard costs, by focusing on things like access and status. Offering attendees priority seating at an event, first access to redeem their reward, or a meet-and-greet with a musician or entertainer can add value to the experience at little or no cost.
2. Build In More Free Time
In post-event surveys, incentive attendees are always asking for more free time to spend with their guests (or their families, if they bring them). When unstructured time is built into the agenda, it appears intentional.
Do away with one day's hosted activities. In addition, cut the number of hosted meals, offering attendees one or two breakfasts or lunches on their own. The changes will be welcomed by attendees, and won't cost them anything additional if you are using an all-inclusive resort.
3. Rethink Travel
It used to be considered a privilege by incentive winners to have their flights booked for them, concierge-style. Not so for the younger generations: They prefer to have a travel voucher they can use to book their flights on their own, on whichever app and airline they choose. Cap the credits so they need to cover the cost of their own upgrades.
Instead of using group transportation, many next-gen attendees would prefer to grab an Uber or rent a car so they can venture out on their own. Putting them in charge of their own transfers is another invisible budget cut.
4. Find Easy Program Cuts
The key to cutting the budget for the incentive experience itself is to focus on things attendees would not have expected anyway. For example, consider cutting lavish musical entertainment and rely more on background playlists. Replace signature cocktails with beer and wine. Consider replacing a hospitality suite one evening, instead of having one every night of the program.
5. Rethink Incentive Merchandise
Companies that manufacture destination-branded merchandise, from baseball caps to coozies — the staple of promotional mailings and pillow gifts — are shifting sourcing away from China to alternative manufacturing hubs such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, and prices are rising. The incentive merchandise industry has had to quickly adjust, retooling incentive merchandise programs to offer a wide range of choices, so that if there are certain items that are impacted, recipients can still find something of the same value.
One solution to sourcing internationally is to turn to local vendors for on-site gifting, creating marketplaces where attendees can 'shop' for goods made by local artists. The local convention and visitors bureau can point incentive planners in the right direction to source local gifts, from coffee and chocolate to spa products and soap.
Download the new Rethinking Rewards report here.
