Spending by Asian “incentive” travellers — employees treated to an organised trip as an incentive or reward — far outstrips that of the average holidaymaker and even business travellers who are “on duty”, a study has found.
Two Chinese ‘incentive tourists’ climb the Harbour Bridge
They are highly valuable visitors. Spending by, and for, this type of tourist averages $974 a day — more than six times the $151 spent by the average holiday visitor and about 1½ times the $694 in direct economic impact of an international delegate to a business event.
The figure of $974 combines spending by organisers, at $583 a delegate a day, and by the travellers, at $391 a day on average. Some trips were worth as much as $1418 a day, according to the report, Asian Incentive Events in NSW, for Business Events Sydney (BESydney).
“This is the first study we’ve undertaken on the corporate incentive market from Asia and it’s an important one for us,” says BESydney chief executive Lyn Lewis-Smith.
“We’ve seen 20 per cent year-on-year growth over the past decade in the value of events secured from Asia, and this market now accounts for almost half of the business we secure and deliver each year.”
Local examples include a Chinese health and personal care company treating 3000 high-performing staff to a “leadership” trip to Sydney.
Researchers Dr Deborah Edwards and Dr Carmel Foley, from the Business School at UTS, say the latest findings in what has been a series of studies for BESydney further illustrate the economic potential of business tourism.
“Tourism is emerging as a foundation of prosperity for many economies,” Dr Edwards says. “In Australia, manufacturing is declining and the mining investment boom is waning.
“It’s against this backdrop of an economy in transition that we need to accurately measure the contribution of this sector, and segments such as incentive tourism.”
Lewis-Smith says the study has provided valuable insights into the sorts of personal experiences the travellers want, and the business outcomes employers are seeking from incentive trips. This will allow cities such as Sydney to further refine what they offer.
In a high-profile instance of incentive tourism in 2015, Li Jinyuan, the billionaire owner of the Tiens Group conglomerate, marked the 20th anniversary of his business by sending half his staff — 6,400 people — on the trip of a lifetime with stops in Paris, Monaco and Cannes. In Paris, the luxury department store Galeries Lafayette closed to other shoppers so the visitors could move around more freely.
The opportunity to shop rates highly when choosing the destination for an incentive trip, the UTS researchers found. Asian incentive travellers consider shopping away from home an important part of the experience because it demonstrates affluence and achievement. And, of course, most of their other expenses have been covered.
The study also found incentive travellers wanted more “immersive” experiences, where they could be a participant not only a spectator. The travellers who took part in the study rated all the cultural activities they experienced in NSW as better than average and said they would like to experience more.
Strikingly, more than two-thirds considered Sydney either the “best incentive event destination” or “better than most incentive event destinations”.
Human resources expert Dr Robyn Johns, a senior lecturer in the UTS Business School, says an increasing number of businesses use trips to reward high-performing or long-serving staff.
“Traditionally, organisations have rewarded longstanding employees with awards such as watches and employer-branded memorabilia,” she says. “But many organisations are now looking for more creative ways to recognise and motivate employees.”
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Photographer (two Chinese ‘incentive tourists’ climbing the Harbour Bridge): courtesy BESydney