Winning RFPs: How to seize the golden ticket in incentive travel

Incentive travel is evolving, with increasingly savvy buyers now prioritising unique experiences and long-haul travel destinations over traditional luxury. As Request for Proposals (RFPs) remain the primary tool for incentive travel buyers to outline their needs, suppliers’ responses are thus a golden ticket to demonstrate their expertise and win over prospective clients.

This insight emerged from a session at the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s (TCEB) annual TIME event in Bangkok, where experts discussed regional trends and strategies for suppliers to attract and retain high-spending clients from mature markets such as Europe, North America and Australia.

Shifting purposes and perceptions

Nicole Tingey, TCEB’s representative from Australia & New Zealand, highlighted that a significant shift in incentive travel’s purpose as trips are no longer just about reward and recognition for employees and company clients.

“Incentives are also being used to attract and retain staff, particularly in competitive industries such as IT,” she said. “Companies in this sector will often build an incentive reward within the recruitment package to attract new employees. While incentive marketing is still being used as a revenue generator, we are seeing that 20% to 30% of incentives are around staff retention and attraction.”

When it comes to delegates from Europe, particularly those coming from France, Germany and the UK, TCEB’s representative for Europe Lauren Godward said perceptions around luxury have changed. High-spending groups, for example, may prefer a unique experience that they can’t find anywhere else over a five-star hotel.

“For an experiential incentive group, a venue with tents in the middle of the forest could be luxury,” said Godward. “It's about how you package it up, what you add on, and what elements are included in the programme.”

Pamela Laite, TCEB’s representative in North America, said delegates from the region are increasingly looking at longer-haul travel again, which is exciting for destinations such as Thailand. “I can take my incentive group [from the US] to the Caribbean and pay $600USD a night,” she said. “They can come to Thailand and get a whole lot more with that money and a very unique experience.”

Identifying high-spending groups

The panel stressed the importance of identifying high-spending incentive groups in RFPs. Key inquiries include: ‘Have you run this event before?’; ‘Where were your last two destinations?’; ‘What‘s the demographic of the group?’; and which industry are they from?’ can offer hotels and suppliers a good idea of the group’s budget.

Tingey believes that suppliers should be proactive in establishing communication with prospective buyers to better understand their needs. “An email that comes through can never tell the whole story, so we always recommend picking up the phone or emailing and asking questions ‘Is this a pure incentive?’ ‘Is this an incentive with a meeting component?’ ‘What is your budget?’ ‘Where else are they considering?’ If the RFP won’t reveal the client, get an idea about them from the industry.”

From Laite’s perspective, many of the leads in the US [from RFPs] are coming from third parties, using event management platforms such as Cvent. “Direct from corporate is down and third parties are on the rise, with 90% of my leads for Thailand for the first four months from third parties like Cvent, the reason being that they have to prove that they're being fair and equitable to their clients.”

Attendees want that Instagram moment, so in your RFP response, outline some cool things they can do in a property.

Pamela Laite, North America representative, TCEB

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Paint a picture of uniqueness and convenience

Panellists discussed that the better you can paint the picture of what differentiates Thailand or another country from other Asian destinations, the more united a front you can present, which helps to paint the bigger picture.

“Put yourself in attendees’ shoes - they want that Instagram moment, so in your RFP and your response, outline some cool things that you can do in a property,” said Laite. “You'll really get planners’ attention if their competition has done something really cool and got social engagement because they had a really great relationship with that hotel.”

Attendees from Europe are also keen to pay more when it comes to accessibility, including ease of arrival at a destination such as MICE lanes at the airport to quick check-ins at hotel. “It’s about making the journey as smooth as possible and arriving as quickly as you can with the least fuss,” said Godward.

Travellers from Europe also crave experiences that they can't necessarily do themselves, and according to Godward, they also like to have information of attractions and experiences within walking distance of the venue or hotel.

“If you've got off-site venues or lovely local restaurants, just putting in a little bit of information about what's really immediately around your venue is very important as well. Buyers like attention to detail, such as a handwritten note and fruit in the room. And the more you can include in a package price, the better.”