Incentive Travel Yields New Opportunities for Leisure Advisors

For leisure travel advisors looking to expand their business, boost income, and take creativity to new levels, incentive travel is a possible niche to pursue. While it takes commitment to learning about the important differences, primarily that incentive trips are all about serving business objectives and not vacation needs, some of the skills required are not dissimilar from those required to serve the customized needs of high-end leisure travelers. Existing clients who are corporate decision-makers could be a starting point.

The increased availability of services providing help with everything from marketing campaigns to destination choices means that advisors can outsource elements they don't want to handle themselves. The main caveat, according to one agency owner who has expanded into incentives, is recognizing that the incentive market rises and falls with the economy even more than other types of travel — and can take longer to rebound.

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— Maria Lenhart, Travel Advisor Editor

Featured Stories

Can Leisure Advisors Crack the Incentive Travel Market? For leisure travel advisors, especially those already accustomed to providing concierge-style services, expanding into incentive travel could be a realistic goal. With help from outsourcing services, even small agencies can handle the complexities involved.

Hotels

Booking to Charge Commission on Resort Fees in Major Shakeup for Hotel Revenue: Get ready for some commotion in Las Vegas and other destinations where hotel resort fees are common. Will impacted hotels abandon Booking.com? Will resort fees lose their appeal for hotels? Will Expedia follow Booking’s lead? The fun and gamesmanship are just starting.

The Story Behind the Color Choices of Luxury Hotel Logos: When it comes to designing logos, luxury brands are generally risk-averse. That’s even the case in the hospitality industry, where brands are always trying to promote their singularity. The names may change, but the colors stay the same.

Loyalty

Alaska Airlines and El Al Israel Airlines Team Up on Loyalty: Alaska is launching a loyalty partnership with yet another outlying international air carrier. At this rate, it doesn’t need to fully join an airline alliance.

Hilton and Lyft Launch Loyalty Partnership: Hilton and Lyft’s new loyalty partnership is a win-win for travelers. On one hand, Hilton members get completely free points for riding in Lyfts. On the other, it’ll also soon be possible to book rides with extra loyalty points.

Tourism

Netherlands Will Continue Tourism Promotion Despite Media Reports: Forget the flashy headlines; destinations need time to respond effectively to overtourism with the cultural fabric of popular locations at stake. The intelligent move is to thoughtfully adjust policies to limit the negative impact of tourism.

Cape Town Hopes Muslim Travelers Can Stave Off Winter Woes: Touting the city’s attractiveness for Muslim travelers — particularly in markets that are already strong drivers of tourism — is a savvy move by tourism authorities and operators in Cape Town.

Distribution Tech

How Sabre Is Tackling Its Airline Tech Challenges: Sabre has sold operational tools to airlines for years, but the business unit became complacent. CEO Sean Menke has revved up the travel tech company’s metabolism. But it will take at least a year for his turnaround to kickstart renewed revenue growth in this unit.

Skift Travel Advisor Editor Maria Lenhart [mbl@skift.com] curates the Skift Travel Advisor Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send her an email.