Incentive planners increasingly are looking to non-European destinations to better leverage the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar, as well as using pre-trip planning to check for the security of the destinations they plan on traveling to, due to the continued threat of terrorist attacks and uncertainty in many parts of the world, according to the industry's travel management companies and third-party incentive planners.
One U.S. dollar late last week was worth only E0.73, down from E0.85 at the beginning of last year, and many companies are looking to head to countries with better exchange rates.
"There is a lot of interest in Latin America" especially since "the euro is so high right now and the pound is almost double," said Patrick Sullivan, president of third-party incentive travel provider PRA Destination Management New York and vice president of the executive board of the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives.
Much like international meeting buyers
(Meetings Today, Aug. 13),incentive travel buyers are looking closer to home to get better deals.
"We see an increase in Central and South America," said Scott Graf, president of BCD Meetings & Incentives. The locations in those areas are favorable not only because of a stronger U.S. dollar in those countries, but because there is less time-zone impact when traveling in the same hemisphere.
Graf added that while there is an interest in traveling to Europe, the exchange rate is a deterrent to going there.
Sullivan added that he has seen an increased interest in European countries that have not yet adopted the euro as the national currency and have better exchange rates, such as Russia, Poland and other countries in Eastern Europe.
Some clients forgo exchange rates altogether by traveling to domestic destinations rather than international ones.
"A lot of corporate incentives are still using U.S. destinations, because they know what the rate is and they know what the spend's going to be," Sullivan said.
Those buyers looking at destinations outside the United States may find that heightened security around the world has made it easier to bring incentive travelers to international destinations, said Peter Moen, vice president of global business development for Carlson Marketing Worldwide.
"We've seen a return of the international market, versus a few years ago, after 9/11, when it dropped off significantly," Moen said. "Now, due to increased security and the increase in people's willingness to travel abroad, the international destinations have come back. There's better security now, so there's more choices where people will go than in the past."
The increased focus on global security, while not deterring such trips, has made incentive planners and travelers seek more information about the chosen destinations, Moen said.
"People are demanding much more information with regards to the destination. Basic questions like, How do they treat U.S. citizens in this particular destination? What does the consulate think? Are there any warnings issued?" said Paul Salvatore, president of events and meetings management and loyalty programs at HRG North America.
Regardless of destination, recently a growing number of incentive trips have incorporated some business meetings in between leisure activities.
"The trend over the last few years is to book a destination and facilities that allow for both a traditional recognition trip but also some component of a business meeting at the same time," according to Carlson's Moen.
"I would say that a good 80 percent have some meetings because they have their top people there," said Steve Damerow, CEO of Atlanta-based third-party provider Incentive Solutions Inc. "Rather than have a separate sales meeting or a separate training meeting, they institute meetings within the incentives."
Added BCD M&I's Graf: "We have seen a dramatic increase in business meetings, or just the amount of business being done. Frankly, it's just a wonderful opportunity for companies to get their top performers together. The opportunity is too good to pass up to get them together to exchange ideas."
While travel to other continents has always required a passport, in January 2007 the U.S. government, under the terms of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, began to require passports for entry via air travel from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and countries in the Caribbean
(BTNonline, Nov. 22, 2006). However, this hasn't prevented people from planning incentive trips to these countries.
"I don't see it having any effect on destination choice," BCD's Graf said.
"We notify people well in advance only because of the number of people wanting to get passports and the time to get one has increased," HRG's Salvatore said. "Most incentive programs we have are for corporate users, and most corporate users have passports and I think that number is well on the rise."