Case Studies

Panorama JTB Tours Indonesia Flexes its Capabilities for an Over 1,500-person International Incentive Trip to Northern Italy

Client :Multinational life insurance firm

Industry :Insurance

Participants :approximately 1,500

Destination :Northern Italy

Period :Early May 2024

# Case Studies
# Group Travel
# Europe

Summary

Rewarding business partners and enhancing human relationships within the company
Processing over 1,500 visas on short notice
Labor-intensive rearranging of the itinerary, including group reservations
Leveraging experience, creativity, and technology with a human touch

Objectives

Panorama JTB Tours Indonesia’s client for this project has been relying on our MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) services every year since they began hosting incentive trips for their business partners in 2003. As a multinational enterprise operating in the field of life insurance, the client’s branch in Indonesia comprises several agencies that each work with independently contracted sales workers.

To motivate these individuals to focus their efforts on selling the client’s products over those of their competitors, and to reward those who meet certain sales targets, the client sponsors an annual trip to an exciting overseas destination. While the main objective of this incentive trip was to show appreciation for sales workers and motivate continued efforts, it also served another purpose.

Since the directors of the client’s various agencies and headquarters representatives join in as well, these incentive trips provide opportunities for staff across the business to interact with each other on equal footing, thereby strengthening the bonds that keep the company’s culture mutually beneficial.

While this trip centered on sightseeing and dining, the client also requested a gala dinner combined with an “Awards Night” ceremony celebrating the top sales agents for the year. With 1,542 individuals consisting of sales representatives, directors, and owners traveling from Indonesia to Italy, we needed to bring all our resources to bear to ensure such a large group could—over the course of approximately one week—travel seamlessly to and throughout Northern Italy.

Challenges

Organizing an international trip for over 1,500 people entailed many challenges. Major hurdles included the bureaucratic challenge of processing over 1,500 tourist visas, maintaining equal quality across airlines and hotel accommodations for all participants, and rearranging the entire itinerary on the spot due to unforeseen highway blockages.

Group visas

To provide the participants with the information and documentation required for the visa application and ensure consistency across the entire group, we intended to process the visas as a group rather than individually.

The visa application process began in February, a mere three months before the trip was scheduled to begin in May. At the time, the appointed Schengen embassy in Jakarta did not have the proper systems or personnel to process over 1,500 visas in time. Procedures required all participants to physically go to the embassy to register biometrics, adding to the logistical challenge. With reservations for the flights, hotels, buses, and venues having already been finalized, failure to secure visas for all would be disastrous, to say the least.

Equal quality across the 1,542-person group

Another challenge was maintaining an equal level of quality across airlines and hotels. No single aircraft can carry 1,542 passengers. Even with several months of lead time, no single hotel could realistically accommodate a group of that size. Inevitably, multiple aircraft from different airlines and multiple hotels would be necessary.

Logistics and the need for quick action

Rather than splitting the 1,542-person group into smaller groups as they moved around the country and explored each locale, the entire group instead stayed together throughout every portion of the trip. That meant traveling as a 42-bus convoy for the whole stay.

While the group was traveling from Verona to Milan, they discovered that the toll road to Milan was closed off for an official bicycle race. Because of this, an alternate itinerary had to be decided immediately.

Solutions

Group visas: meticulous organization, persistent management

The negotiating skills, tact, and persistence of the managing director and chief experience officer for Panorama JTB Tours Indonesia, Ms. Vidya Hermanto, proved indispensable in ensuring the visa applications, biometric appointments, and documentation procedures for all 1,542 travelers were processed in time for no one to be left behind.

Equal quality across the 1,542-person group: planning and negotiating

Slight differences in quality across service providers, airlines, and hotels were inevitable. However, by ensuring every service provider was similarly ranked, such as every hotel being rated four or more stars, equal quality was maintained for all participants. In certain cases, such as when one hotel did not provide air conditioning in the spring season, persistent negotiation from Ms. Hermanto led the hotel’s management to eventually listen to reason and ensure air conditioning was in operation.

Logistics and the need for quick action: flexibility

Understanding that they would not arrive in Milan according to schedule due to the main toll road being closed for a bicycle race, the order of the itinerary was changed altogether. Executing the change would save time, but it required our 25-person team to call every hotel, restaurant, and sightseeing venue and negotiate to adjust the reservations.

Communications technology

In addition to the competence of Panorama JTB Tours Indonesia, our unique communications technology helped manage communications within the organizing team and with the participants. This platform was designed to streamline registering individuals’ key information, keeping track of documentation, and handling communications. Moreover, the platform also analyzes the time it takes for inquiries to be resolved, thereby providing data that we may use to improve practices and increase customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

Ms. Hermanto, her team, Panorama JTB Tours Indonesia, and the JTB group as a whole do not consider our clients as singular entities. Rather, we saw them, in this case, as 1,542 individuals, each of whom deserved top-notch service.

We were able to draw from our deep well of experience, expertise, and consideration for each person involved. The project for this particular client demonstrated the variety of MICE events that are possible with the extensive capabilities the JTB Group is able to provide.