The last three years in the incentive industry have left most of us dragging out old “Grateful Dead” covers to hum solemnly along to “what a long strange trip it’s been.” According to the Incentive Research Foundation’s (IRF) most recent polling however, this trip may be coming to an end, with a much happier journey on the other side.
In the months of April and May, the IRF surveyed industry professionals to get a better understanding of where the market for incentive travel programs, merchandise/non-cash programs is headed, with a special concentration on ROI/budget considerations.
For all intents and purposes, most respondents feel that the tide of economic woe that seems to have befallen the incentives industry of late is beginning to turn. Compared to the summer or fall results of last year, this latest survey shows that buyers and providers in the incentive industry are cautiously optimistic about the current economic climate.
Most specifically, 69% of industry professionals felt that the economy was actually going to have a positive impact on their ability to plan and implement incentive travel programs. This indicator has seen a steady rise since the summer of 2009 when only 24% felt the economy was going to have positive impact. Likewise, the market for merchandise incentives is on an upward trend as well, but not as dramatically as incentive travel. In April, 41% of industry professionals felt the economy was going to have a positive impact on their ability to sell programs, up significantly from 20% in the summer of 2009.
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