Awestruck Incentives Launches to Transform Corporate Event Travel into a Measurable Growth Engine

Most business leaders acknowledge that travel is important but lack strategy. Awestruck Incentives is bringing the executive-level rigor needed to disrupt a stagnant event industry.

MENTOR, Ohio, Sept. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Business event travel is back – but it's still broken.

Corporate leaders recognize the importance of in-person engagement, but event travel remains largely transactional. Legacy travel management companies (TMCs) and procurement teams are focused on logistics and compliance, leaving billions in untapped growth on the table.

Awestruck Incentives is launching to change that with its proprietary Strategic MICE Travel Design model that blends elite strategy consulting experience with award-winning travel execution to transform corporate retreat and incentive event travel into a strategic, measurable growth asset.

The Problem: Event Travel without Strategy

"Travel has become transactional at the very moment at which it needs to be transformational," said Alexis Berlin, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Awestruck Incentives. "During my time at McKinsey, I saw this firsthand. In billion-dollar transformations, travel was only ever mentioned as a line item to cut. We need a full paradigm shift: from event travel as a cost center to event travel as a growth lever."

While business leaders acknowledge event travel's role in sales, culture, and client retention, traditional approaches generally overlook the importance of driving measurable business outcomes. Traditional TMCs prioritize creating the most lavish experiences within budget, with little focus on the business metrics those experiences should deliver.

"I recently came across an article in which leading event travel companies claimed that the strategic outcomes of event travel could not be measured. I was shocked," Berlin continued. "There is no other area in which a good strategic partner would advise executives to invest millions into a program, then claim that there was no way to measure returns."

How Awestruck Incentives is Changing the Event Travel Game

Awestruck Incentives is flipping this script by starting with enterprise goals, not destinations and budgets. The company's new, proprietary Strategic MICE Travel Design Model turns the typical travel planning process on its head, including:

• Beginning with a deep dive into strategic business objectives, not trip logistics
• Counseling business leaders on which goals can be best supported by event travel
• Reverse-engineering an annual event travel program to support those goals, with KPIs built in from the start
• Executing programs that wow personnel, without sacrificing business results

This approach integrates strategy and execution in a way that the travel advisory industry has never seen. Berlin, a Harvard College alumnus and former McKinsey & Company manager, has partnered with co-founder Jenene Mealey of Travel with Awestruck, who brings nearly two decades of award-winning corporate event travel experience and deep relationships with global suppliers. Together, their blend of boardroom-level strategy and travel industry mastery creates a uniquely qualified leadership team to reset the standard for event travel.  

"We don't ask where you want to send people," said Berlin. "We ask you what overarching business goals need to be achieved, then design high-impact programs that move the needle on those objectives, while still leaving your employees awestruck."

Why now?

Corporate event travel has rebounded post-COVID, but most business leaders don't yet use it strategically. In an era of economic uncertainty, the winners of the next decade will be companies that act with powerful strategic intent, measure initiative success, and allocate every dollar effectively.

Event travel is no exception, and Awestruck Incentives is leading the conversation with a disruptive new option for executives: travel that moves the needle, not just people.

About

Awestruck Incentives is the corporate event division of Travel with Awestruck. Combining executive-level strategy expertise, proprietary approaches to travel design, and deep industry relationships, Awestruck Incentives transforms corporate meetings, retreats, and incentive trips from cost line items into measurable growth investments. For additional information or to schedule an interview, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE Travel with Awestruck