Tourism New Zealand has released a new handbook highlighting the importance of incentive travel and how it helps to improve workplace productivity.

“Incentive travel is big business with 40 per cent of United States businesses using it in some form to reward, recognise, and motivate their top people,” says Lisa Gardiner, Tourism New Zealand’s International Business Events and Premium Manager.

“To tap further into this market we have launched a guide on the benefits of incentive travel and how it helps to create a highly motivated workforce.”

Titled The Art of Employee Happiness, the handbook explains how incentive trips positions New Zealand as the ultimate destination and was launched at IMEX Las Vegas today.

It includes a selection of tips from some of the world’s foremost employee engagement specialists as well as case studies from organisations that have successfully used incentive travel to motivate their workforce.

Tourism New Zealand’s International Business Events team engages with businesses that are keen to motivate employees and reward workplace success to promote the benefits of incentive travel to New Zealand.

“In the last financial year we secured incentive trips worth $35.7million to New Zealand.

“The largest incentive trip we’ve ever secured is the upcoming Amway China visit to Queenstown in April 2018 which is expected to contribute around $50million to the economy.”

Trade shows such as IMEX Las Vegas provide Tourism New Zealand, and the New Zealand exhibiters who attend, with a B2B marketing opportunity.

“IMEX Las Vegas gives us access to the most influential buyers in the world.

“It attracts thousands of meetings and incentive travel executives and buyers from the valuable North American outbound market and around the world.”