One10's February 14, 2024 response to the Incentive Research Foundation's trends report puts budget pressure and participant choice at the center of incentive program design. The company discusses how travel, merchandise rewards and program technology can be adjusted as employers manage inflation and a workforce with differing preferences.
One10 highlights the reports' figures of 53% for incentive travel as a necessity and 48% as a strategic differentiator. The original 2023 Incentive Travel Index clarifies the attribution: corporate programme end-users were reporting how they thought senior leadership viewed travel, rather than leaders answering that question directly. The company also notes that rising prices were exceeding budget increases and recommends linking programmes to business objectives, performance indicators and participant feedback. [S03]
Question S1 has a base of 186 corporate end-users, excluding those unsure, and allowed multiple answers. The wider online survey ran from May to July 2023 and drew respondents from 83 countries. These are reported leadership perceptions in an industry survey, not measured returns on travel or a direct poll of senior leaders. [S03]
How corporate end-users describe senior leadership's view of incentive travel
May to July 2023 fieldwork, summarized in IRF 2024 trends and One10 February 2024 commentary.
% of question respondents
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
Multiple answers from186 end-users reporting leadership views, not direct leader responses, gift-card demand or observed programme ROI. Not all wider survey participants answered this question.
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| Category | % of question respondents |
|---|---|
| Need to have | 53 % of question respondents |
| Strategic differentiator | 48 % of question respondents |
| Necessary evil | 21 % of question respondents |
| Nice to have, not essential | 19 % of question respondents |
| Area to trim or cut | 13 % of question respondents |
One10 argues that recognition should reflect the audience rather than assume that a single reward will appeal to everyone. Its discussion of workforce demographics emphasizes understanding differences among employees. For reward selection, it points to points-based programs and personalized gifts as ways to give recipients more control over what they receive.
A client event with a custom Ugg slipper selection is one of its examples: participants received the same general type of gift but could choose an individual version. The company uses this to explain how personalization can operate within a common reward budget and event format.
The travel discussion describes programs One10 had operated in the Maldives, Slovenia and New Zealand. According to the company, clients were seeking dependable hotels and infrastructure together with distinctive activities, free time and opportunities to experience local communities. Destination selection therefore involved both operational requirements and the experience offered to participants.
One10 also reports pressures in planner-supplier relationships from higher costs, staffing shortages and turnover. It recommends communicating goals and expectations early, inviting partners' input and agreeing how teams will communicate during delivery. These are presented as ways to manage a working relationship across the program, rather than focusing only on individual transactions.
Technology forms the final part of the company's response. One10 describes PerformX as its proprietary SaaS platform for configurable incentive programs, with ongoing client work informing the product. It sees a role for AI in supporting program tasks while retaining human responsibility for understanding company goals and culture, configuring the experience and measuring the result.
In this article
Maya Bennett
Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.