Eventful Limited has announced the appointment of Holly Mills as Head of Incentives to strengthen the agency’s offering in the incentive travel sector.

A Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP) with over 14 years’ experience in in delivering memorable experiences to reward and recognise groups, Holly’s most recent role was Head of Incentives at Penguins (acquired by DRPG in 2017).

Holly’s appointment demonstrates Eventful’s confidence that incentive travel will bounce back post pandemic. Eventful Managing Director, Caroline Lumgair Wiseman said: “We are excited to welcome Holly to our team. Her passion, expertise and holistic approach are a great fit for the agency.

“Holly will work consultatively with clients to plan their return to international incentive programmes and to deliver inspiring and memorable purpose-led events, with a strong focus on wellbeing. Holly will also champion Eventful Experiences – the agency’s recent domestic individual luxury incentive travel gift voucher product.”

Despite the current challenging market conditions caused by Covid-19, businesses will need incentives more than ever to motivate and reward their staff, partners and customers. The recently published Incentive Travel Industry Index 2020 survey indicated that pent-up demand for travel will drive recovery, with the majority (83%) of buyers reporting that senior management and other stakeholders remain committed to incentive travel.

Mills commented: “Whilst profit driven initiatives remain a primary function for businesses, soft power objectives are becoming increasingly more valued within organisations with ‘relationship building’ and ‘improved engagement’ cited amongst the most beneficial outcomes of an effective incentive campaign.

“In addition, employers who truly embrace wellbeing in their business create a workplace where both employees and the organisation thrive. The unique combination of an incentive campaign with wellbeing at its core will allow clients the opportunity to nourish their employees’ mental health in order to harness top performance. Whilst these are still challenging times, I strongly believe that it is our responsibility to drive organisations towards this way of working and I am really excited to join Eventful in this mission.”

“The motivations behind impactful incentive programmes have shifted in the last 12 months,” said Steve Quah, CEO of Aeorema Communications plc, Group owners of Eventful Limited. “We share in Holly’s vision for the future of a purpose-led and wellness-focused incentive travel industry, reshaped to meet the needs of corporate programmes in 2021 and beyond. Aeorema Communications is thrilled to welcome Holly to lead this momentum, which complements our overall vision as a leading global communications group.”