Incentives under the spotlight at The Meetings Show

Maria Tsierkezos, Director Client Growth & Marketing at Nteractive, will bring expert insight to The Meetings Show as she explores how leading European organisations are transforming the role of incentives from simple reward mechanisms into powerful business drivers.

Speaking alongside Andy Schwarz from the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF), Maria will unpack how top-performing companies are moving beyond traditional participation-based programmes to design incentives that deliver measurable commercial impact.

Rather than treating incentives as a retrospective reward for hitting targets, forward-thinking organisations are embedding them directly into business strategy. Programmes are now being built with clear objectives – from driving revenue growth and strengthening client relationships to improving talent retention – with tighter qualification criteria ensuring rewards are genuinely meaningful and earned.

Maria will also highlight the growing importance of experience design in incentive travel and rewards. The most effective programmes are those that create emotional connection through personalised, culturally relevant and aspirational experiences that participants could not easily access themselves.

When done well, these experiences continue to prove one of the most powerful tools for building loyalty and sustaining long-term performance.

Finally, the session will explore how leading organisations are placing greater emphasis on measurement and ROI. By linking incentive programmes to core business metrics – including retention, engagement and performance – companies are able to continuously refine their approach and ensure ongoing alignment with business goals.

Attendees will leave the session with practical insight into how deliberate programme design, focused investment and robust measurement can significantly outperform traditional, volume-led incentive models.

Don’t miss ‘What top performing European companies do differently with incentives’ on Stage Two at 12:40hrs on 25 June.