With a wealth of knowledge, passion and creativity, Easia Incentive is ready to provide unparalleled, immersive incentive experiences in Southeast Asia. Get to know us one by one, starting with our seasoned Director of MICE, Antoine de la Tousche. Having owned his very own successful incentive houses over the past 30 years in Paris, France, he truly understands the ins and outs of the industry.
Could you tell us a bit about your journey to incentive travel and Easia Travel?
Easia Travel and I have a long history. I met one of Easia’s founders, Hoa, in 2002. At the time I ran my own incentive businesses, and we ended up collaborating and creating our first incentive trip in Vietnam. That trip really determined the rest of our business relationship, and I remained an Easia client for the next 15 years.
I met my wife in Bangkok 30 years ago. We had this passion for travel that took us all over the world, but we fell in love with Southeast Asia. So in 2017, once all our children had grown up and moved out, we made the decision to move from Paris to one of our favorite places. In 2017 we arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Easia’s founders, Thuy Hoa and Philippe Richard, asked me to help mentor the Easia Incentive teams in the different destinations, particularly consulting on developing and maintaining industry creativity. After a few months the work had started orientating itself more and more towards sales & business development. Working with the team was something I looked forward to everyday, so when Thuy Hoa and Philippe Richard encouraged me to take on a leadership role within the Incentive team, I happily accepted. I went from being a long-standing Easia client to working in a leadership role within the DMC. What I love most about the relationship we have is the loyalty and longevity we built day after day, year after year.
When I was on the other side of the industry, leading my own incentive house, I expected my DMC partners to have strong knowledge of the destination, a professional team, creativity, and the ability to question themselves and evolve. And that is exactly what we try to do on a daily basis at Easia Incentive: we always challenge each other in order to go further with our ideas and services.
Why is Southeast Asia becoming an increasingly popular region for more creative and immersive Incentive trips?
Today clients’ expectations are completely different from what they were a few years ago. They want something new and never-done, never-seen before. The promises of Southeast Asia for an incentive trip are discovery, culture, adventure, authenticity and rich heritage.
We’re also no longer selling products, but experiences. Nowadays, preparing a proposition is not about what the hotel offers. We’ve noticed a change of habit: hoteliers no longer sell a “simple night”, they now promote experiences, such as a day trip or a whole program. It’s gone beyond the rooms’ facilities, the pool or the hotel bar. Hotels instead focus on storytelling and the experiences available in their locations.
At the end of the day creativity is our biggest challenge, but also our biggest ally. Our destinations have a real legitimacy for agencies looking for exoticism, authentic experiences, service and story-telling.
The future of Incentive travel
I’ve been doing this job for 30 years and each year I’ve been told that incentive is a changing world. We constantly need to find a new way to tell a story and adapt our business model.
We’re fortunate in that we are part of a well-respected DMC. Easia Travel has strong bargaining power, so as an Incentive DMC we can also stay on top of market trends and shifts while retaining the best services and competitive prices for our clients. This relationship has also allowed Easia Incentive to modernize and digitize itself.
Moreover, we’re ahead of the game simply because of who Easia Incentive are. We’re a dynamic, multicultural team of experienced experts and young talented newcomers. This versatility means that we are able to cope with sector changes and new market demands. Ultimately, nothing would be possible without passion for service, which is at the very heart of our actions.
Where should Incentive clients look to travel in 2019 and beyond to find the most immersive and unique experiences for their teams?
Our hidden pearl is Laos. It’s been developing slowly and has some inspiring and truly authentic offerings. It has a special old charm, and Lao people are incredibly friendly and spiritual. Hotels, catering and services are starting to become more refined and readily available, so incentive travel has become a lot easier. Companies in Europe are always looking for “something different”, and I think here we have a destination which really stands out.
But we permanently create new and exciting itineraries for all of our destinations, so there’s always something special and different for incentive travelers to look forward to, regardless of which country they choose to visit.
Take-away
If there’s one thing that Antoine emphasizes, it’s the need to stay relevant and innovative in the ever-changing incentive industry. Our dynamic team has both the expertise and ambition to achieve that goal. An incentive trip can be pretty straightforward, but we want travelers to leave with unique and long-lasting memories. So when incentive groups leave Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar or Thailand, we don’t want them to simply speak about the destination, but about what they gained from it, what inspired them, and the relationships they strengthened here.
Get in Touch!
Connect with Antoine on LinkedIn and stay up-to-date with all things Incentive in Southeast Asia!
