Where Experiential Travel Fits in Executive Compensation Planning
Every serious conversation about executive compensation planning eventually runs into the same ceiling. You’ve benchmarked salary, structured the bonus, and layered in equity. The standard package is table stakes, but when two offers are close, something must tip the decision. The basics of executive compensation planning If you’re designing executive compensation at this level, you […]
5 Ways to Make the President’s Club More Than Just a Trip
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on November 13, 2025. It was last updated on June 2, 2026. Traditional President’s Club trips serve an important purpose, but they have limitations. They happen once a year, require massive logistical coordination, have fixed dates, and deliver recognition only to those at the very top. Here are […]
Why Travel Belongs in Your Corporate Wellness Program
Many corporate wellness programs share a common limitation: they ask employees to recover in the same environment that’s exhausting them. A meditation app at the end of a long workday is still a workday. A step-counter challenge is still a task. Individual travel removes that constraint entirely. It takes a person out of the context […]
Ask These Four Questions When Evaluating Incentive Travel Companies
If you’ve been handed the task of finding an incentive travel company, you probably have a short timeline, a budget to work within, and a boss who expects you to come back with something solid. The good news: the right incentive travel companies make this evaluation straightforward. The differences between vendors, though, matter for your […]
5 Tips for Designing Sales Incentive Travel Programs
Sales teams are expensive to build and expensive to lose. The sales incentive structure you put around them determines who stays, who pushes, and who quietly coasts. Incentive travel programs, when structured well, are one of the most effective tools in that stack. Here is how to build a program that earns its budget line. […]
How to Announce and Promote Your Employee Incentive Travel Program
Incentive travel program communication isn’t just an announcement. It’s the engine that drives participation, builds anticipation, and keeps your program alive in employees’ minds long after the initial launch.
Bleisure Travel Is Booming, and Individual Reward Trips Are Built for It
For companies designing recognition programs, understanding bleisure travel isn’t just helpful context. It’s a strategic advantage.
Tax Rules for Incentive Trips: What HR Leaders Need to Know
The IRS treats performance-based travel rewards as taxable compensation to the employee, regardless of whether the award is cash, merchandise, or travel. The fair market value (FMV) of the trip, covering airfare, lodging, meals, and related costs, must be included in the employee’s gross income.
The Best Alternative to Cash Bonuses for Employees: Why Travel Rewards Win
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on November 20, 2025. It was last updated on March 23, 2026. When it comes time to reward top performers, many companies default to cash bonuses. It’s straightforward, quantifiable, and easy to administer. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: Cash bonuses rarely create the lasting impact you’re hoping for. If […]
Business Travel Procurement: The Case for Individual Incentive Travel
The companies building cultures people don’t want to leave share a common understanding: recognition isn’t a perk, it’s a practice. It’s the consistent, intentional act of showing employees that their contributions matter, not just to the bottom line, but to the people around them and to the organization’s identity.