by Pádraic Gilligan, Head of Consultancy & Research, SITE | Co-founder, Soolnua

Condé Nast Traveler recently published an article by Anna Silman titled “The Extravagant Rise of the Corporate Incentive Trip”. It’s a welcome and rare mainstream media foray into the world of incentive travel, a $112 billion global business events sector that often flies under the radar despite its enormous economic and cultural impact.

Silman’s piece is a nicely crafted narrative. Witty, informed, and elegantly sceptical, it traces the arc of incentive travel’s post-pandemic rebirth, painting vivid portraits of luxury-loaded trips that range from skydiving in Dubai to exclusive Parisian dinners and week-long cruises where the champagne flows as freely as the corporate spending.

In an era when employee disengagement is epidemic, and AI threatens to strip human interaction from the workplace, it’s no surprise that incentive travel is booming. Companies are looking for more than just a pat on the back with which to motivate their top performers, they’re seeking experiences that wow, reward, and, ideally, realign values. Silman captures this with sharp economy, noting the jaw-dropping price tags (sometimes as high as $75,000 per couple) and the corporate justifications behind them: higher productivity, stronger loyalty, improved retention.

It’s great to see coverage like this in Condé Nast Traveler, a title better known for honeymoons in the Maldives than reward / recognition or management motivation strategies. The fact that anyone is talking about incentive travel outside the four walls of our own industry echo chamber is reason enough to be grateful. More awareness, after all, leads to better understanding and, we hope, more respect for the serious business of business events.

But as someone who has spent much of the past 30 years advocating for the power of incentive travel, I found myself reading Silman’s article with a faint sense of unease. Not so much for what she says, more how it’s framed.

The article’s tone is knowingly sophisticated, with just enough ironic detachment to leave the reader wondering: is this a celebration or a critique? Are incentive trips strategic tools for human flourishing and organizational culture or just glorified giveaways for high-earning sales teams?

Incentive travel can appear to be extravagant, yes—but it’s also transformational. It’s not just about Michelin stars and luxury spas. They’re just the obvious bits that you see. Incentive travel, at its best, is about shaping culture, building belonging, and unlocking performance in ways that cash rewards, bonuses or stock options simply cannot. It’s about recognizing people not just for what they do, but who they are. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s about creating shared stories and memories that tie individuals to the purpose of their organization.

There’s also a deeper narrative that Silman’s piece only brushes up against: the idea that travel itself is a powerful human force. It broadens perspectives. It dismantles prejudice. It reconnects us with what matters. When properly designed and executed, incentive travel offers moments of awe and connection that leave a lasting impact on people’s lives, not just their LinkedIn profiles.

I often share my own “Aha” moment about this, one that resonates with Mark Twain’s much-quoted line: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

I was in Vienna, running an event with my client and great friend, Paul Eder. As we approached the Hofburg Palace for the Awards Dinner, we struck up a conversation with one of the attendees—an older gentleman, on what he told us would be his final trip before retirement.

During that short walk, he said something that has stayed with me ever since:

Every now and then, I have a beer with my high school buddies. Most of them have never travelled outside their zip code, never mind left the country. Thanks to my work and these travel awards I’ve been all over the world: Bangkok, Sydney, Cape Town … you name it. When we meet, I realise they have no real understanding of diversity—racial, social, cultural, or religious. My mind, on the other hand, has been thrown wide open. I’ve met people whose lives, attitudes, and reference points are radically different from mine, and that’s changed me forever.

For me, that was the moment it truly clicked: incentive travel isn’t just about luxury or reward. It’s about expanding horizons in ways that ripple far beyond the trip itself.

So yes, let’s applaud the article for shining a light where there’s long been shade. But let’s also invite the next wave of media coverage to look deeper. Behind the sunsets and the suites, there’s a story of human potential being unlocked, one trip at a time.