Participant safety, perception of destination safety and the presence of a great DMC will be the most important factors when planning incentive programmes post-COVID according to the 2020 Incentive Travel Industry Index (ITII).

The report reveals that the incentive travel industry is predicted to make a full recovery from 2021 through 2023, with destinations perceived to have dealt well with COVID-19 likely to recover quicker than others as well as a shift toward shorter-haul destinations and those perceived as safe such as mountain locations.

Buyers estimate incentive activity this year fell to 23% of 2019 levels, with hope that 2021 – fuelled by activity in the second half – can recover to 59% of 2019 levels.

Globally, business is expected to bounce back to 88% of 2019 levels in 2022, before a full recovery in 2023, although US incentive travel professionals remain more optimistic regarding recovery than some other regions and countries.

Renewed appreciation for travel

“A year without travel has sharpened our appreciation, confirming travel's intrinsic merits and elevated the prestige of travel as a prize,” the report said. “As a testament of support, 83% of buyers report senior management and other stakeholders remain committed to incentive travel.”

The study, a joint venture between SITE Foundation, Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP) and Incentive Research Foundation (IRF), received 3,000 submissions from around the globe during September and October.

Approximately three-quarters of respondents expect that incentive travel, once recovered, will be very similar or only moderately changed relative to pre-COVID.

Health security becomes key focus

Unsurprisingly, sanitation and health security have joined emergency preparedness as top risk management strategies, while location preferences have seen a temporarily shift from more dense, urban locations, cruise ships and all-inclusive resorts.

But as travel becomes more valued following global travel restrictions, priorities are shifting on which programme activities buyers and sellers see as important – luxury/bucket-list experiences jumped to number one in activity preferences in this year’s survey, up from fourth in 2019.

Wellness and CSR rise up the ranks

Building on trends in last year’s ITII, buyers also plan to make large shifts toward wellness and flexible activities for individuals, as well as corporate social responsibility. There will be more focus on the individual qualifier’s individual travel experience, and less focus on group dining and team building.

There’s good news too for the DMC sector, with “the presence of a good DMC” ranked third out of 18 possible ways that incentive travel programmes will shift in the wake of Covid-19, with buyers recognising that increased focus on managing risk calls for strong local presence and awareness offered by DMCs.