Feature: Vouchers and gift cards: Weathering the credit crunch

Travel incentives remain popular when the economic climate is looking gloomy, reports Andrew Johnson, director-general of The Va

The credit crunch has undoubtedly led to UK consumers having to make cutbacks on luxury purchases. For instance, high-street fashion has reportedly experienced its worst sales for eight years while some restaurants are suffering as diners choose to enjoy a good bottle of wine with a meal at home as an appealing and far better-value alternative. Prudent saving is obviously advisable but it is also detrimental to business throughout many sales sectors.

However, while the rise in the cost of food and fuel means that they now account for more of the weekly household budget, leaving less disposable income, there are certain luxuries that are still prioritised in spite of a downturn in the economy. Specifically, few people are willing to give up their annual holiday as the essential reward for working hard throughout the rest of the year and as an invaluable opportunity to make time for some of the more important things in life.

It is for this reason that travel and leisure incentives remain sought-after gifts for both friends and family or as corporate rewards and incentives that never fail to motivate and engage. People will give up a lot of other luxuries before they have to give up the chance to get away from it all for a short break, so travel and leisure incentives are an appealing proposition, whatever the economic weather.

The range of gift cards and vouchers that now cater for this sector forms a significant proportion of the market and one that is expected to continue to develop. Indeed, our recent collation of sales figures, with which The Va has developed a new method of breaking down the data to show differences in sales channels and payment types, reveals that, after retail vouchers and gift cards and those sold through agencies, the leisure market accounts for the third most significant percentage of the market.

As I mentioned in March’s column, our membership has grown and diversified significantly over the last few years in particular and companies catering for the travel and leisure sector have a strong representation. Membership currently includes Marriott Individual Incentives (the incentives branch of Marriott Hotels), travel specialists Thomas Cook and Lastminute.com, companies offering experiential gifts such as Red Letter Days, Gift Days Out and Experience More, as well as various agencies that have now added travel and leisure products to their portfolio.

Specialist card issuer and processor G-T-P, for one, has launched a range of new gift cards for Park Travel, an independent travel agency that is part of Park Group. It began with the Love2travel gift card, which is aimed specifically at the corporate incentives and motivation market and offers recipients access to multiple tour operators and the chance to plan a tailor-made holiday. The success of this product has led to the wider development of the Park Travel range of gift cards now appearing in gift card shops across the country.

Holiday bookings, flights and accommodation, UK breaks and theme parks as well as associated products such as car hire, insurance and airport parking are just some of the things that can now be paid for using a prepaid card such as the Love2travel Gift Card, for example, and can form part of a successful incentive offering.

The applications of prepaid cards in this sector are continuing to expand. Prepaid cards can facilitate money transfers across the world, which could be a great incentive to offer the employees of companies with multinational operations. Other prepaid cards are being launched as the new alternative to travellers cheques and a more convenient way to spend money abroad. There is certainly a lot on offer as the popularity of travel and leisure incentives reflect the needs of all of us to get away from it all every now and again.