If you’re looking to provide incentives to your customers or employees, have you ever considered giving away vacation vouchers?
Let’s be real. Who doesn’t want a free vacation coming their way?
If this is something you decide to do, you will notice a higher return on your investment because you are giving them exactly what they want plus more! But you may also be afraid that you are going to be spending too much money by offering this as an incentive. That’s not the case, though!
Travel vouchers are often provided by companies that have relationships with other companies and can provide free opportunities because it brings in more revenue when people decide to use them and book!
Although this is a great idea to give away free vacation vouchers, here are 12 things you should know about vouchers in 2021!
1. Travel Vouchers May Have an Expiration Date
Most travel vouchers have an expiration date on them. For instance, if you receive an airline voucher, you probably have a year or two to use them. If you received a hotel voucher, you may have a year or two to use that as well.
But because it is 2021, many hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and other vacation rentals are extending the expiration dates because some people may not want to travel in our current state. Because of this, you may have extra time to use the vouchers you’ve received even before COVID.
Whatever the case may be, when you win a travel voucher or purchase one to giveaway, make sure to look at the expiration date so that you are maximizing the time you have with it before needing to make a decision about a vacation.
2. You May Still Have to Pay Taxes and Fees
If you receive a voucher for travel, you are getting whatever that voucher is for (like a flight, a hotel, etc.) for free. However, that may not include the taxes or fees on top of it!
For instance, many travel agents are receiving free cruises right now since the industry is just opening back up. Although the cruise itself is free, they still have to pay any taxes or fees associated with it.
The same goes for other vouchers given to customers or employees as incentives!
3. Check the Cancellation Policies
Let’s say you get a free voucher and you decide to go through with it. If you think there is anything that could cause you to cancel, you should look up the cancellation policy before booking.
For instance, a vacation voucher that you get may only be for a free hotel stay. If you book your flights, that will still be money out of your pocket. With that, you will want to understand what the cancellation policy is.
For many airlines, you can receive a travel credit instead of getting your money back if you cancel after 24 hours. However, if you went with a basic economy or some other sort of cheaper ticket, you may not always get your money back in any form. That’s why it is so important to check before booking!
Although this is the case, because of COVID-19, many airlines have started to refund travelers in the form of airline vouchers. You will get your money back with a voucher you can use in the future, but beware of the expiration of it!
4. You Can Tailor Your Vacation Even When Using a Voucher
Let’s say that as an employee, you receive the incentive of a travel voucher to head to Disney. This may include Disney tickets and a hotel package for you to stay for a few days.
You may be wondering how the company affords to give you this opportunity. Well, here’s how.
Once you receive this voucher and decide you are going to head to Disney, you may decide you want to stay for an extra night or two! That will be money out of your pocket that will go to the company since they provided the rest for free. The same goes for if you add a rental car or upgrade your room to a better view.
Every decision that you make that adds something to the voucher is the way that money is made.
5. Most Vouchers Have Conditions and Terms
If you receive a voucher to travel, most have conditions or terms for how you can use it. For instance, a travel voucher to Mexico may have terms of when you can travel and where specifically in Mexico you can go. If air is included, there is probably only one airline that you can choose from to get there.
All of the terms and conditions would be laid out on the voucher so that your experience is transparent.
6. Travel Vouchers Can Increase Your Marketing Reach
Whether you are a marketing company or a company that simply wants to increase the reach you have, offering a travel incentive is one of the best ideas you could have.
So many people love to travel, and traveling for free is even better and more appealing. By offering these incentives like giveaways, prizes, or new customer incentives, more people will look to your company.
Even if you reach people who do not end up signing up or don’t become a customer of your company, you still are getting the word out about who you are and what you offer. You also show that you care about your customers because you want them to be happy with extra incentives that go above and beyond what you need to offer to potential customers and clients.
7. Free Vacation Vouchers Can Increase Sales
If you are looking to increase the sales that you have as a company, offering free things (like travel vouchers) is a great way to incentivize people to buy your product!
If you are a jewelry business and want to sell more jewelry, instead of dropping prices or giving a free piece of jewelry away with one that sells try offering a travel voucher will incentivize more people to buy jewelry.
If you choose to use travel incentives to sell more, you should only do it once or twice a year to maximize the impact you have on your customers. If you are trying to incentivize your employees, offer a travel voucher to the employee who sells the most in a month! That will make everyone work harder and increase sales as well.
8. Increase Productivity in the Workplace
As an employer, one thing you probably always want to improve upon is your employees’ productivity rate. You probably already know that the happier employees are, the more productive they are.
But how can you make this a reality instead of just hoping that eventually, you can make them happy working for you?
Since happier employees are 13% more productive in the workplace, it’s time to offer them something they would love!
Your answer: travel vouchers.
When employees are ready to win something or be recognized for their work, they will do more as well. Because you are offering something they really want, they will work harder and be more productive with the hours they work.
9. Vouchers Can Make Vacations More Affordable for Families and Individuals
For many people, travel seems like a far-fetched dream that they won’t be able to afford yearly. Instead, it becomes only for special occasions like a honeymoon or a 50th birthday party. But more often than not, people wish this wasn’t the case.
It’s no surprise that many Americans wish they could travel more often, so why not make that dream a reality for them by offering vacation vouchers to your customers and employees?
As a company, offering travel vouchers can help change the face of travel for so many different people. Not only will that make the world a happier place, but your company will become top of mind for many people since you are making travel accessible. Instead of going to a company that doesn’t offer value outside of the product itself, yours does.
10. Vacation Vouchers Can Incentivize Customers to Buy During the Slow Season
Every company has its slow period during the year. Whether that’s the travel industry during the cold months if they are located in the North or the mountains (except maybe for skiers), or if that’s the hotel industry in February and October.
Whatever the reason for the slow period, there are ways to combat this and still get customers! By providing travel vouchers as incentives during the slow season, more people will come your way.
For instance, if you are a home improvement company that installs ACs during the summer, you probably have a slower season during the winter months. If you provide an incentive for people to install their ACs during the winter months instead, you will be drawing in customers all year round. This means more money for your company and employees!
To do this, you should tell potential customers that if they have an AC installed in March, they will be given a free vacation voucher (the choice to where is yours!). Since people are attracted to free things, you will be attracting more customers.
11. Increase Customer Loyalty
If you are a company that has a lot of competition in your industry, increasing customer loyalty is key to keeping your business in business.
One way to do this is to provide free vacation vouchers to some of the most loyal customers that you have. Not only will this incentivize these customers to stay around and keep buying products or services from you, but it will also show others that they, too, could be raking in some free incentives if they become that loyal as well.
12. Set Yourself Apart From Other Companies
It’s not common that you see travel vouchers being handed out quite like candy from companies. That’s what sets companies who do offer travel vouchers apart from the rest.
Imagine it. If there is a company that is offering a diamond ring for the same price you are, but you also throw in a free 5-day cruise if they purchase during a certain week, that potential customer is most likely going to come to you first to make the purchase.
It’s more than just giving away free travel – it shows that you actually care about your employees or customers and want to provide them with even more.
Ready to Use Free Vacation Vouchers?
If you’ve received any vacation vouchers, it’s time for you to use them before they expire! Also, why wouldn’t you want to head out on a vacation right away?
Or, if you’re ready to start using vacation vouchers to incentivize workers or customers, we got you covered! You’ll be raking in more sales and getting more customers in no time!
At Kalilei Vacations, we want to help you make your vacation as perfect as you imagine! For starters, our services are free to you or your client who wins your voucher! We will book the vacation based on the voucher and tailor it to how they want it to be for free. But wait…we offer even more!
If you find a better price than we offer, we will price match that! We also partner with some pretty cool places and locations around the world, so if you choose to go to one of those destinations, we can get you some pretty sweet deals for your vacation!
So what are you waiting for? Contact us today to get started with using travel vouchers!
