Abstract
Purpose: This study explores how incentive travel contributes to transformative experiences among employees in Pakistan. It explores how the sales workforce undergoes both personal and professional transformations, as well as how companies facilitate transformative tourism by offering incentive travel.
Design/methodology/approach: This research employed a hermeneutic (interpretive) method, utilizing interview data from total 25 interviewees, 15 employees who had taken such trips and 10 managers who had witnessed significant changes in their employees.
Findings: The research reported that incentive travel fosters development on both a personal and professional level. This is achieved through the enhancement of an individual’s self-confidence, self-reflection, perspective shift, emotional well-being, and behavioral changes. Additionally, employees gain benefits such as organizational commitment, improved performance, higher retention rates, and enhanced skill development, hence creating transformative tourism.
Practical implications: This study indicates that the use of incentive travel is a strategic investment that can assist in employee growth, organizational sustainability, and competitive advantage instead of being an asset of a corporate benefit.
Originality/value: This Research expands transformational tourism beyond recreational contexts by applying it to incentive travel, an area where transformation processes remain underexplored. The study gives a comprehensive knowledge and a conceptual foundation for further research in organizational transformation through incentive travel by incorporating viewpoints from employers and employees.
Paper type: Research paper