Prove it’s not just a ‘jolly’. Why incentive travel needs intent.
“Bit of a jolly, isn’t it?” We’ve all heard it before. From the outside, incentive travel can sometimes look that way.
A group of top performers heading to Seville, good weather, good food, and time away from the desk does look like a very good time. But the problem is, if that’s all it is, something has gone wrong.
The experience should be strong. That part matters. But without clear intent behind it, it becomes cost without consequence.
Good incentive programmes don’t start with a destination. They start with a question.
Before you design your next incentive programme, there are a few things worth getting clear on first…
The best incentives start with a question, not a destination.
Before flights, venues or locations, there’s a more important question. Start with understanding what needs to change.
Before a venue is sourced, before flights are looked at, before anyone says “what about Ibiza?” there’s a far more important conversation to have:
- What is the objective of this incentive?
- What are we actually trying to shift, drive, or unlock here?
- Is there a specific sales behaviour that needs to change?
- Do we need to retain top talent in a competitive market?
- Does energy need rebuilding and reigniting after a tough year or restructure?
- Do we need to encourage stronger collaboration across teams that don’t naturally connect?
- Will this programme support our team’s personal development goals?
- How does (and how should) this tie into our overarching business strategy and KPIs?
When that intention is clear, everything else follows.
The destination becomes a response to that objective, not the starting point. The experience itself should (and will) reinforce the objective, and won’t distract from it or be empty.
That’s where incentives move from a ‘fun’ reward to a serious business tool that drives real results.
How will the experience drive performance?
There’s a tendency to focus on ROI alone. Revenue, pipeline, short-term uplift. These factors all matter. But, alone, they’re not the full picture. If you’re only looking at incentive travel ROI through a revenue lens, you’re missing most of the picture.
The real impact of an incentive sits in the experience itself and how it’s designed with business objectives front and centre. The real magic tends to sit in something that’s slightly less tangible…
- Energy across teams
- Stronger internal relationships
- Momentum that carries beyond the trip
- A shift in mindset
Engaged people perform differently. They stay longer, contribute more, and bring others with them. They’re energetic, bought in to the company’s vision and aims, and feel truly part of that journey. This is an important shift. Incentive travel can, when done well, make teams push a little harder, share an opportunity with a colleague they may not have shared openly before, commit to stay with the business for longer and, importantly, build deeper relationships that really matter.
According to the Incentive Research Foundation, when done well, incentives can increase performance by an average of 22% and team incentives can increase performance by as much as 44%.
It’s simple. The numbers follow the conditions you create as part of the programme’s design.
Avoid the trap of the ‘on- off’ trip.
One trip won’t carry a long-term plan to improve performance. We’ve seen it all before. The big annual incentive. It lands brilliantly, people love it, and there’s a real buzz surrounding it. But it fades over time. It’s a great moment, but when it starts to fade, then what? What’s next?
This is the important gap that can’t and shouldn’t be ignored. The strongest programmes don’t rely on a single moment or a one-off incentive trip. They build momentum around it: the buildup, the anticipation, and sustained momentum.
The programmes that really deliver are the ones that think beyond the trip itself:
- Campaigns that keep people engaged throughout the year
- Touchpoints that recognise incremental progress, not just the final result
- Moments that keep the incentive front-of-mind long before and long after the trip
This isn’t about doing more for the sake of it. It’s about designing the incentive experience in an intentional and connected way. Think about:
- Ongoing communication that builds excitement and appeal
- Recognition before qualification
- Meaningful touchpoints that keep it visible
When this happens intentionally, performance doesn’t spike once. It builds over time.
The behaviours that actually matter.
Not everything shows up in a report or neatly presented spreadsheet. In fact, some of the most valuable outcomes of a well-designed incentive programme are the hardest to measure…
- Collaboration between teams that don’t usually work together
- Personal growth that feeds into organisational strategy, aims and vision
- Knowledge sharing that happens naturally, not because it’s forced
- People genuinely wanting to go the extra mile without needing to be asked
- A genuine sense of pride in being part of something
This is where culture shifts and how incentives are a powerful driver in changing behaviours for the better and sustaining them.
This works when people feel recognised, valued and part of something bigger than a target.
Good incentive design doesn’t force this. It makes it happen.
Measure beyond the numbers.
Of course, you’ll need to track the numbers, that’s important. These are likely to include:
- Qualification rates
- Revenue impact
- Retention
- Participation levels
These give you a clear view of performance. But they don’t tell you everything. The real impact is in the story that these numbers tell.
- Are people talking about the incentive before they’ve qualified?
- Is there visible energy across teams? Are managers seeing a shift in attitude or behaviour?
- Is it showing up in how people collaborate and contribute day-to-day?
That’s where the real insight sits. Because by the time it shows in the data, it’s already happening in the business.
Measurement shouldn’t be a one-off report once the trip is over. It should run across the full programme, before, during and after, so you can see what’s building, not just what’s been delivered. It’ll also then help inform how to design future programmes and incentive trips to build on this over time. What works? What could be improved? What output do we need? Then you look at how to make that happen and design around those outputs.
So, is it a jolly?
Well, in short, it should always feel enjoyable and exciting. That’s the whole point after all. That’s what makes it memorable. And remember, memorable experiences are what drive behaviour.
If it looks like a jolly, feels like a reward, and delivers measurable business results, then you’re on the right track and it’s working. The goal shouldn’t be to make incentives more serious. It should be to make sure that underneath the fun, they’re doing serious work.
Final thought.
At asembl.group, we don’t see experience and performance as being in conflict with each other. They work together. Results and enjoyment can, and should, be connected.
The best incentive programmes should feel strong and work hard for the business. They should be something that people want to be part of, driving behaviours and results that last long after everyone’s home.
“Incentives aren’t about escape, they’re about engagement. When done right, they pay back far more than they cost.”
– Steve Wallbridge, Account Director, Incentives Expert, asembl.
If you’re reviewing your next incentive programme and want a clearer view on what it should deliver and can deliver, we’re always here for a conversation.
No hard sell. Just experience, ideas, and perspective.
Stephen Wallbridge - Account Director, asembl.
Debs Crosswell - Head of Partnerships, asembl.group