The landscape of Meetings and Incentives has dramatically changed since Covid.  After 18 months of cancellations and rescheduling, companies are ready to reward those individuals most important to them – from sales teams to clients – in impactful ways. So what are we seeing for incentive trends? Crystal Zawilinski, Fox’s Meetings and Incentives Sales Director, provides her latest insights on the climate of Meetings and Incentives.

Own the Experience 
Clients are looking for opportunities to fully OWN the experience. Whether focusing on smaller venues which allow for buy outs or more remote locations such as lodges, dude ranches and glamping, our clients are looking for experiences where the location is all theirs. This shift results in the ability to not compete for dinner reservations, activities or staff time, particularly as staffing continues to be a challenge in the hospitality industry. Clients are also looking for ways to control the travel experience with an increase in clients looking for private charters for air travel.

Domestic Opportunities
After years of jet-setting around the world, companies are more frequently looking for their experiences to take place a little closer to home. Whether their reasoning is avoiding Covid testing and entrance protocols, allowing attendees to drive to regional locations or cutting costs, clients agree that some of the guest experiences are right here in the United States.

Unique Experiences  
More and more our clients are embracing the truly unique experiences they can provide to their attendees and looking to the team of experts at Fox to create these opportunities attendees couldn’t replicate on their own. From private concerts to performances or demonstrations which tie to local culture, attendees want to soak up the opportunity to travel again and embrace these bucket list experiences. This unique experience extends also to incentive gifting experiences where attendees are giving high reviews for opportunities to select their gift versus the typical room drop which is cookie cutter.

Giving Attendees Choices 
We are seeing a strong desire from attendees for programs to allow for free time and choices. They have earned this trip and they want to be able to choose how they spend their time with their guest. Companies are fulfilling this request by hosting fewer formal events and making activities optional and at the individual level vs. the entire group doing the same activity. This additional flexibility also allows attendees with different comfort levels surrounding Covid to choose those options which feel most appealing to them and their guests.

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