Business event players in Indonesia are heartened by the rapid pick up in incentive and corporate events this year, where observations include an increase in group sizes and the preference for new destinations.
When spoken to at the annual Indonesia Professional Organizer Summit (IPOS) Vol 8 Summit and Table Top, Trianto Sunarjati, director at Travel Help Indonesia, revealed that not only demand for incentive trips was high, but companies are also more confident in sending bigger groups.
His shared that his company has been constantly receiving enquires from insurance and banking companies, as well as law firms, with up to 600 participants per group.
“In 2022, the groups were smaller in size of between 50 to 150 people,” he observed.
Agreeing, Wienna Damanik, account director of Cakrawala Event Organizer shared that her company has already organised incentive trips from several manufacturing, banking, and pharmaceutical companies. Group sizes ranged from between 200 and 500 people, where their itineraries included meetings, teambuildings, and gala dinners.
“In June, November and December this year, we also have larger groups of up to 2,000 people travelling per month,” she added.
Evi Nur Hapsari, managing director at B.A.T Travel, has also observed that companies are looking for new destinations, where interest for places like Labuan Bajo and Lake Toba have soared, due to the government’s promotions. Her company has also received enquires for not-so-popular destinations like Likupang in North Sulawesi.
Destinations like Bali and Yogyakarta remain popular choices, but Evi has noticed companies asking for new activities – such as wearing traditional clothes and riding ox carts through a village in Yogyakarta – that can be experienced instead of a regular itinerary.
Held at The Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta earlier this month, the IPOS Vol 8 Summit and Table Top, a total of 366 potential events across 32 provinces in the country were recorded. Of this number, 39 per cent have been confirmed, with another 37 per cent most likely to happen, according to IPOS data.
The event brought 41 hoteliers and event suppliers together with 68 event organisers and tour operators from around the country.
Harry D Nugraha, founder of IPOS, shared that these numbers were a clear sign that the events industry was recovering, and “demand for corporate events has been rising steadily”.
He was previously the general manager of Fairmont Doha in Katara Towers, where he led the team for the hotel’s opening which went on to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
He has 15 years of experience in management roles within IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Australasian properties, and most recently supported three Holiday Inn hotels and the InterContinental Hayman Island Resort.
The importance of an incentive trip’s destination as a motivational factor, a preference by participants for increased communication, and some tensions between corporate leadership objectives and qualifier desires for an unscheduled time at leisure were some of the major points that have emerged according to new research published by SITE Foundation.
SITE Foundation has officially published its newest report, Participant inSITEs, which features insights from a global body of 825 incentive travel reward-earners.
In this report, respondents painted a new picture of what participants these days expect from incentive travel programme communications, destinations, onsite activities, and more.
Broken into three sections, Participant inSITEs also explored what makes participants get ready to work toward incentive travel rewards; how to set participants up for a motivating experience while qualifying; and why participants enjoy going on trips they have earned and what activities and benefits stand out most.
“This truly global study provides immensely valuable data for all segments of the incentive travel industry,” said SITE CEO Annette Gregg. “We know companies are eager to leverage the power of face-to-face connections to get the best ROI for themselves and for their teams. The insights presented here are key to helping drive all of that.”
A copy of the full Participant inSITEs report can be downloaded here.