The events renaissance

There is a renaissance in incentives and live events. It's a new era, thanks to a culture of heightened strategic thinking and impressive return on investment.

We have seen our clients being more strategic, being more inclusive, and being increasingly responsible and creative. Together all these things have created this renaissance. It's an exciting time.

Live events are back to being a significant part of the conversation at board level – but the nature of those events has certainly evolved. Historic live event calendars are being challenged, and most of our clients have gone back to the drawing board and strategically said, what do we want to achieve from these live event opportunities? They want to know what the best investment will ultimately be not only from a financial basis but increasingly from a cultural perspective.

Many clients have adjusted to what they see as the most valuable and strategic event solution - and frequently that has resulted in incorporating more of the workforce in incentive events. It might be that they completely scrap the traditional incentive model and move more towards bringing broader strategic groups together or rewarding a business as a whole, the increased value of these gatherings no doubt a consequence of the trend towards remote working.

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Strategic thinking

With many workers now remote or detached, there may be just one or two times a year when a live event offers the opportunity to bring everyone together, so you want to maximise that. The opportunity to bring a lot more strategic thinking into these face-to-face events is there where it wasn't before.

It can be hard to measure the ‘soft value’ and ROI when you're talking about these big company-wide events, because results are not necessarily driven by quantifiable metrics such as sales alone. But staff and client feedback has consistently praised the value of these events and the powerful impact they have on bringing the company culture to the fore. It is an opportunity to remind staff of why they love working for a business and can impress a real sense of identity and belonging on those who attend. This is resonating even more at a time when work forces are so mobile, staff retention key and recruitment competitive.

people sitting in front of table talking and eating

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All-time peak

Those clients that are strategically focusing dedicated budgets on sales incentives are seeing their ROI in these initiatives skyrocketing. For some clients we have seen the impact of experience-led incentives reaching an all-time peak. The percentage qualifiers against forecasted qualifiers is unlike anything we've seen before. It's a real awakening of the impact of live experiences as a sales motivator.

Employees are thrilled to be back travelling the world and having those once in a lifetime experiences - and people are working harder to hit those qualifying targets. This trend has become even more evident as incentive campaigns that were launched at the back end of last year go full cycle, and the results show no signs of dampening anytime soon. This will hopefully ensure further investment by industry sectors that recognise their value.

It's a great time for agencies to take the opportunity to sit with clients and support and influence where they're going.

a group of people sitting on top of a rock

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Creative solutions

We have definitely seen supplier costs in those late summer/autumn months going through the roof because a lot of destinations are extending their summer seasons. Places where you used to go at the back end of September to get a good rate, are now seeing high demand right up to mid-October, maybe November. Those timelines have been pushed as not only are hotels and destinations benefitting from many travellers being quite happy to travel later in the season, but many are also rebuilding their finances post Covid - so who can blame them making the most of this opportunity? This compacting of leisure travel and corporate travel has however really impacted the shoulder season rates.

Ultimately, clients looking for better value are willing to potentially push their dates later. But for those with date restrictions, higher rates will be unavoidable.

The smart, creative solution is going to the destinations out of the spotlight but still offering great solutions. There are certainly some destinations that are going to benefit as neighbouring options outprice themselves.

people in the beach near blue canoe at sunset

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Skyrocketing

Portugal is probably number 1 in Europe in terms of popularity and value for money. Spain is still very good value, particularly if you look beyond the headline properties and cities. Then there are places like Cyprus, which historically have not had as high profile as other destinations, but it's certainly seeing a lot more interest and activity. I'm delighted because it's a good destination.

Costs in many of the traditional popular holiday destinations are starting to become prohibitively expensive, the South of France and Italy for example. In these more costly locations, you have to really hunt to find independent properties and less well-known locations where you'll get the better opportunities.

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More adventurous

We're talking about going into the interior of France and enjoying a wine region or two rather than hugging the coastal hot spots or heading up to the Dolomites in Italy rather than rather than hunting for an economic hotel on the Amalfi coast. We're finding a lot of success with unique independent properties that can really negotiate hard on rates and price, primarily because they're not receiving the same level of enquiries. The appetite to negotiate is that bit higher.

There is also definitely a thirst for exploring and being a bit more creative. Many clients are now looking to challenge the traditional format and embracing a bit more adventure and the great outdoors. They are quite happy to go outside the cities and find more remote, retreat-type experiences, and create their own entertainment. That’s very relevant because if you can create that experience away from the big hubs, you're going to just get much better value and the creativity required can often deliver the most unique and magical experiences.

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