Are there any travel websites that offer incentives for users to achieve certain tasks on their travels?

Are there any travel websites that offer incentives for users to achieve certain tasks on their travels? - Back view anonymous male explorer with backpack standing on rough mountain peak and enjoying breathtaking scenery of severe highland on clear day

I was just talking to some people about how on my travels I contribute to OpenStreetMap and Google Maps / Mapmaker mainly to help other travellers find stuff that isn't easy to find.

I much prefer contributing my work to OSM because it's run for free for people like me whereas Google is a multibillion dollar company and shouldn't really be soliciting free handouts from skint backpackers.

But this gave me an idea. Maybe there are some websites that offer real incentives to crowdsourcing activites such as money, free stays, free gear, free tickets to participants who contribute a lot of good info or achieve set goals.

Besides contributing to mapping, other possibilities would be reviews of places to stay or eat, photos of attractions, correcting out-of-date information, etc.

Does any such incentivized crowd sourced travel themed website exist?



Best Answer

This probably shouldn't be an answer, but it's going to be too long for a comment, so I'll put it here. Feel free to convert if you really don't like it here.

Providing tangible rewards for 'crowdsource' feedback hits two major obstacles which have not yet been solved.

  1. Verification. We already have very little way of determining if a review of a restaurant, hotel, or place was written by someone who actually went there. We just have to take their word for it. The only reason to believe them is "why would they bother?" i.e. who would bother to create a plausible-sounding review of a place they hadn't been to? As soon as you reward people, that changes. I'm pretty sure I could write 100 plausible-sounding reviews in a day if I thought it was going to get me a free vacation. (N.B voting doesn't help with this. If you go to the trouble of writing a fake review, then creating 25 fake accounts to vote it up is no extra trouble)
  2. Bias If an establishment is going to give out free stays for reviews, you'd better bet it's not going to give them out to reviewers who trash them. That's going to really cut down on the number of negative reviews, as reviewers compete to be as nice as possible and get their free stay.

If course both of these are problems now to some extent. And sometime in the future the internet may solve the problem. But not yet.

EDIT: Since writing this seven years ago it has of course turned out to be a major problem. Travel organizations and others are now routinely paying people to write favourable reviews on websites.




Pictures about "Are there any travel websites that offer incentives for users to achieve certain tasks on their travels?"

Are there any travel websites that offer incentives for users to achieve certain tasks on their travels? - Black man touching door of taxi
Are there any travel websites that offer incentives for users to achieve certain tasks on their travels? - Person climbing on rocky mountains under sunny sky with clouds
Are there any travel websites that offer incentives for users to achieve certain tasks on their travels? - Male adventurer in denim coat and shorts touching leg of black friend and frowning in lush forest in daytime



What is an example of incentive travel?

This type of trip could range from being given to one individual, all the way up to large group awards made available only after certain targets have been met throughout the year. You can use incentive travel as a team-building experience, networking opportunity, or simply as a reward for those who've earned it.

What is an incentive travel program?

Incentive travel is a way for companies to reward their top-performing employees with a vacation or trip, paid for by the company. Many corporations use incentives to recognise their top employees or to drive sales through non-direct employee channels such as insurance agents, car dealers, or direct sellers.

Why are incentive travelers so important to the future of the tourism industry?

Incentive travel is a tool to stimulate employees with an activity designed and planned to motivate and to reward people who have achieved certain goals in the company. Its purpose is to strengthen the team and create a special atmosphere to help increase its performance and that of the company.

What are the benefits of incentive travel?

The Benefits of Incentive Travel for Employees and Companies
  • Team building and healthy competition. ...
  • Achieving goals and improving performance. ...
  • Increase loyalty and dedication. ...
  • Develop bonds and improve team's relationships. ...
  • Boost creativity. ...
  • Motivating your staff. ...
  • Reinforce organisational culture.




10 Travel Websites You'll Wish You Knew About Sooner!




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Stan Swinnen, Ono Kosuki, Lachlan Ross, Kamaji Ogino