Barb Ward, vice president of travel and events at One10, was recently featured in Incentive Magazine talking about personalization in incentive travel experiences. The article states…” one-size-fits-all trips no longer cut it with participants; they expect choices in activities, menus, gifts and more.”
“Personalization has become much more of a priority over the past five years,” says Barbara Ward, vice president of travel and events for incentive and meeting firm One10. “People are looking for more and more of a personalized experience when they’re within the group. Companies like ours have to think about not only what does that mean to the client and to the message they want to send to their attendee group, but what does that mean to each specific attendee? That’s a tough question to answer when you have hundreds of participants who all want different things.”
She also goes on to say, “It’s less age-driven and more about the person. There are plenty of baby boomers who are more active than their age might suggest. And there are certainly some Millennials who want to enjoy the spa or just hang out versus running out to do things.”
“It used to be just spa, golf and ATV-riding, and now participants want to go beyond that,” notes Ward. “They like to experience more of the local flavor.”
For high-end groups, that means activities individuals couldn’t readily do on their own, such as dining in a Scottish castle or getting up at 5 a.m. to help open the gates of the Vatican to the public, Ward says. Interestingly, when participants are surveyed, one of the most popular options is free time. “It doesn’t mean that they’re not going to network with their peers or spend time with the executives, it’s just more on their own,” says Ward. “They don’t want it to be so structured.”