Incentive planning is important to building guaranteed attention and focus of any audience, and luckily there are a number of tools to help with this. Some of the tools are available in the most obvious of places, while others might be a little more subtle.

Venues – surprisingly, many venues have built-in incentives that they can offer, such as tours or gifts. This is more common in more exotic locations, and special destinations such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. For more information, inquire with the hotel’s concierge service.

Local Concierge Services – In many cases, it is possible to find local services that offer meeting planning services at a discount. Smart meeting planners can and will consult with these for pricing whenever appropriate. Often it turns out that the local services have developed special relationships based on volume and history, and thus are able to offer better pricing.

Searching – If you do not look for it, then do not be surprised if you do not find it. The Internet is an amazingly powerful tool for looking for anything, and Google makes the entire process look simple. Simply navigate to Google’s home page (www.google.com) and type in what you are looking for. For example a search for ‘affordable tours in Tucson’ is a great way to locate an incentive.

Seasite.com – This amazing portal offers group cruise planning tools you can use to plan an incentive cruise.  With all cruise brands represented, you can source a group cruise easily with a single electronic RFP.

Northern Arizona's Hopi Reservation has opened the Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites.  This new $13-million hotel and conference center is the largest development ever by a single Hopi Village. 

The Hopi  Villages are among the longest continuously inhabited places in North America.  Visit Hopi Villages, meet artists in their home workshops, enjoy unique Hopi food, and meet some of the friendliest people in the world – the Hopi people. 

Guided Walking Tours are available in the Villages of Sipaulovi and Walpi where the rich heritage of the Hopi people and village life over the centuries surrounds you.  These tours are available year round to all visitors to Hopi.  For an in depth tour of the Hopi Villages and the opportunity to visit artists (including world renowned Kachina carvers) in their home workshops, take a tour with an authorized Hopi Guide who will explain the culture and heritage of the Hopi people.

The design of the 100 room hotel offers a glimpse of Hopi culture to visitors, and the center plans to educate visitors about their tribe.  The property offers 3,096 sq. ft. of meeting space and three breakout conference rooms. 

http://experiencehopi.com/

You do not have to make every meal a stylishly themed function when planning your next corporate meeting or incentive travel package, but there should always be at least one fun food function, and possibly more. Of course, creating a memorable meal takes more time, effort and money, but it is well worth it to ensure that your attendees will be talking about your event for months or years to come.

Even if you are working with a slim budget, or have many other planning components that require your focus, you can plan a themed function with ease and for less by working with your venue using these three tips:

1.  Ask the venue about special arrangements of relationships they may have with local entertainment options. This may result in a lower cost and will make ease the booking process.
2. Inquire about what the venue has on hand in regards to event logistics. For example, if they have tables, chairs, linens and A/V equipment you may be able to negotiate use of these items into your contract, or add it for only a small additional expense. 
3. If you are planning your event at a theme hotel or a venue in a popular destination, they will likely have event décor on hand that matches their theme or is typical of the location. For example, you can be fairly certain that a tropical-themed hotel in Hawaii has luau décor.

The best incentive programs to motivate employees include rewards of money or travel.  People love to win trips to destinations that are different from their own environment.  Trips to exotic destinations such as an incentive cruise to  interesting ports of call are among the most popular incentives, and tend to have the best ROI overall. 

Seasite.com, the first online group cruise meeting planning portal, allows planners capitalize on the value of cruise meeting and incentives. Cruising can cut the cost of land based venues by as much as 25-40%, allowing planners to persevere with today’s shrinking budgets. Why not make your next corporate incentive event a meeting-at-sea ? Take a look at Seasite.com today!

Site-inspecitons are essential to planning a successful meeting.   Marriott.com offers a meeting planning checklist that is comprehensive and helpful,including site inspection.  Here are some things to consider when inspecting a site:

• Virtual tours – don't let distance hold you back.  Many venues offer virtual property tours.
• Guest rooms – try them out.  Ask to see the different categories of rooms to see the actual differences.
• Meeting rooms – How will your setup work? What is the distance from the meeting room to banquet facilities, restrooms and guest rooms. 
• Food and beverage – where is the banquet kitchen located?  What is the F&B minimum?
• Parking facilities – Is there adequate parking if your attendees are driving? Is it secure? What is the cost per day?
• Safety – Get a copy of the venue's safety plan.  Does it cover all your needs?
• Security – Are there in-room safes?  Do elevators require key access so that only registered guests can access the lodging floors?
• A/V - Do they offer the equipment and technology you need for your meeting and for your attendees?  What are the costs?

Do a detailed site inspection to avoid surprises.

Successful incentive programs will not only increase company profits but can also raise morale and inspire employee loyalty. Your ideal incentive program should include both of the following features:

• Empowering people to do the thing you enjoy doing
• Recognition – in all its various forms

Recognition of a well-done job creates greater autonomy, increases visibility within your organization, and showcases success.

"There are two things people want more than sex and money… recognition and praise." – Mary Kay Ash, Founder, Mary Kay Cosmetics

"People want to feel what they do makes a difference." – Frances Hesselbein, President, The Drucker Foundation

Top recognition incentive programs to motivate staff include rewards of money or travel.  People love to travel to destinations that are different from their own environment.  Trips to exotic destinations such as Hawaii or an incentive cruise to interesting ports of call are among the most popular incentives.  

Hawaii is one of the most desirable meeting and incentive destinations.  It is a place that inspires your attendees, and  one that people everywhere in the world dream to visit.  Participation in Hawaii incentive events generally exceeds expectations, so Hawaiian incentives can be relied on to deliver on ROI.  This is true especially in tough economic times.

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB), offers meeting and incentive planners "one stop shopping" to plan a meeting in Hawaii.  They have the resources, knowledge, and connections to maximize the value of a business meeting experience for planners and their clients. They recently launched an exciting new online initiative called the Added Value Resource Center at BusinessAloha.com.  Planners can go to the site and take advantage of several innovative programs to help them save money, without sacrificing the quality of the overall Hawaii meeting experience.