Millennials look beyond first-tier cities for incentives

The Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) has partnered with Professional Conference Management Association (PCMA) Education Foundation to commission a research project to better understand the corporate incentive travel segment particularly among Gen Y and millennials.

According to the study, travelling to another country is simply not enough these days. In the experiential age, the determining ‘wow’ factor such as including hands-on events tailored to professional and personal growth has become an industry standard.

On top of that, delegates are more interested in going to more unusual, lesser-known destinations beyond first-tier cities which has brought about an increasing need to curate more unusual itineraries.

The study also highlighted the opportunity for further collaboration between planners, destination bureaus and associated services to meet the needs of the market; the increasing demand of justifying budgets and providing more for less or the same budgets; and the impact of social media on the expectations of travellers and corporate clients.

“The corporate incentive travel segment is proving to be a ‘quiet phenomenon’ as it makes up over 25% of the global business travel industry and, in Australia alone, is growing at 20% year on year,” said Karen Bolinger, CEO for MCB. “It was obvious that this rapidly growing market would generate incredible insight and new business opportunities for incentive and meeting planners in Asia Pacific.”