Scott Siewert, president of Fab at Incentives, joined Cvent’s Scott Lockey for a conversation in early August that focused on trends and insight from the return of incentive travel.
Armed with fresh Cvent data and plenty of anecdotical evidence, too, here are five standout moments from their discussion.
Of course, there can be no incentive travel without compelling, attractive incentive destinations. According to data pulled earlier this year, travelers look to be sticking to North American markets for now, though Scott Siewert made it clear he’s hopeful that Europe will return to charts like the one above within the year.
Beach sun & fun will always be popular, both Scotts noted. Scott Siewert attributes the interest in adventure travel to millennial and Gen Z qualifiers in particular, and both agreed the rise of mountain destinations reflects the continued interest in spectacular views and outdoor access initially spurred on by the pandemic.
Longer stays might be dealer incentives, said Scott Siewert when looking at the chart above. For those looking to promote longer stays, guides produced by destinations that show the variety of options and programming, paired with successful case studies that highlight the return and value of longer programs could be a useful marketing tool, the two also noted.
“It’s the great news slide!” exclaimed both Siewert and Lockey when this came up on-screen. Pent-up demand (and related shorter lead times) seems to have passed, the two observed.
More good news, according to Scott Siewert. He says the “sweet spot” for incentives tends to be the purple section of the bars above — which has grown year-over-year according to this Cvent data.
Our thanks to Scott Siewert and Scott Lockey for sharing their insights with us during our SITE webinar series, and to Cvent for supporting this webinar discussion!
