HYDERABAD: Gone are the days when the quality of your holiday depended on the leave travel allowance (LTA). Companies today are willing to go an extra mile to woo their sought-after employees, and in some cases also their customers.

So the 'special ones' are sent packing to some exotic destination (both within the country as well as abroad) in a calculated pampering drive.

Although most companies across the country offer free trips as an HR initiative to win over their employees, in Hyderabad such packages mostly come the 'valuable' customers' way, all for goodwill's sake.

The locales could vary from an unexplored place in Himachal Pradesh to a trip to Singapore, Bangkok, Thailand or Mauritius or even Egypt.

"In the past six months we have given at least 2,000 people a travel voucher to 75 different destinations across the country. Now it is our USP," said D V P Rajesh, head AP Operations, Sangeetha Mobiles.

"The idea is to give our customers a unique experience and create a clientele that will remember us fondly, he added. More companies are now banking on the emotional quotient associated with gifting a travel package.

"People nowadays have no time to plan holidays. Even when they plan, the thought of arranging for hotels and other aspects becomes too cumbersome. But in case of travel packages everything is taken care of and all that one has to do is just chill," said Sanjay Bajaj, CEO, Third Eye.

The tangible aspects to a travel incentive is obvious — escalating sales. "Ever since we have taken up this incentive, our sales have doubled," said Bajaj.

"This is one of the best ways of brand promotion," said Rajesh. For the customer it is the increased perception value that induces brand loyalty.

"Bonuses and cash incentives are mundane. It does not create the kind of long-lasting perception the way a travel incentive does," said Heena Akhato, COO, TravelPort that has tie-ups with various corporates like HLL, Nokia, Kurl On, Lupin to provide travel incentives. However, employees in this city are not as lucky.

"Although travel incentives are common in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and even smaller cities like Aurangabad and Pune, Hyderabad is so far an untapped market as far as travel incentives for employees are concerned. People within the age group of 25-35 years would rather value a travel incentive than a cash incentive," said Akhato.