The pinnacle of the incentive travel industry, the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence’s Crystal Awards, recognizes companies that produce remarkable travel experiences. SITE honored Motivation Excellence and our client partner, Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, for Excellence in Incentive Travel: Europe at their global conference in New York City this week.
“Being recognized by SITE and the Crystal Award judges is always an amazing feat that reinforces our dedication to our clients and industry partners. Winning an award two years in a row is absolutely phenomenal and says a lot about our incredible team of travel professionals. Accepting this award with a valued client is a testament to the partnership we have built and their commitment to always wanting to be better than the previous year. Thank you Farm Bureau and thanks SITE,” says David Jobes, President and CEO of Motivation Excellence.
Accepting the award were Rhonda Brewer, VP Sales at Motivation Excellence, Deb Dansby, VP Marketing at Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan and Amy Crossett, Director, Business & Strategic Development at Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan. Both Brewer and Dansby delivered thank you comments on stage.
“From our perspective, experiences like this are extremely impactful to our ability to attract and retain our salesforce. Our goal is to design and deliver exceptional incentive experiences that are not available to the ordinary traveler. Our partnership with Motivation Excellence is what allows us to deliver those experiences,” Dansby relayed on stage.
The award-winning experience occurred in May of 2022 and encompassed traveling with nearly 300 qualifying agents to Dublin and Killarney, Ireland and then extending with the top 25 agents and their guests to London. Highlights of the experience included exclusive meals atop London’s Tower Bridge and Kensington Palace, an exhilarating James Bond-themed boat ride down the Thames, a takeover of the Guinness Storehouse and quality time spent with the people of Ireland while visiting County Kerry.
Brewer had this to say as she accepted the award: “We wouldn’t be here without our fantastic and long-time client, Farm Bureau Insurance, our DMC and hotel partners and our team that makes the magic happen. Thank you to Wallace Travel, Spectra, Hotel Europe, The Shelbourne and the Langham in London for your partnership to create this incredible program. We love to inspire extraordinary performance, and we absolutely did, as a team!”
Dansby reports that 98.6 percent of the attending agents said they made valuable new connections or learned something that will help their profession while on the travel experience. 87 percent said the travel reward was part of their personal business goals. Agents regularly report that once they’ve been on one of these reward experiences they strive to go again.
As part of their winner’s case study, SITE had this to add: “Showing true wraparound benefits stemming from every corner of their program, Motivation Excellence continues to be a standout exemplar of incentive travel’s transformational impacts.”
Incentive travel companies submit for awards anonymously. Motivation Excellence won the SITE Crystal Award last year for Most Creative Solution Deployed at a Time of Crisis for our program “GEM Club 2020: From Kauai to Concierge.”
