The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) launched their 2026 Incentive Travel Index (ITI) at IMEX America this week, with the headline picture showing relative stability amid mounting pressures. Over 60% of respondents state that geo-political instability is already disrupting the destinations they use.
Produced with research partner Oxford Economics, the study draws on responses from 2,100 incentive travel professionals and examines how buyers and suppliers are adapting to geo-political instability, changing costs, destination priorities and new technology.
While average spend per person is up by almost 8%, year-on-year, 62% forecast their incentive travel activity for 2027 will be about the same as in 2026, while almost 26% predict an increase. Securing airlift and airline capacity has become a much more prominent near-term challenge, cited by 40% of US buyers compared with 12% in last year’s Index.
Destination decisions are also being shaped by access and confidence. Personal safety is the most commonly cited destination disqualifier among US buyers (53%), followed by difficult air access (42%) and geopolitical factors (31%). In a new question put to the full survey sample, 64% agree that recent political events will lead to a decline in inbound incentive travel to the United States.
The Index also finds that AI is becoming more embedded in programme planning: 80% of US buyers are using or planning to use it for destination research and planning, up from 58% in 2025.
Further findings explore budget choices, the changing appeal of destinations, cross-border logistics and the relationship between incentive travel and wider employee experience strategies.
Stephanie Harris, president of the IRF, said: “The 2026 Index underscores that incentive travel programme owners must make strategic choices at every stage of the programme cycle. Those that use better data, work closely across partnerships, and keep the attendee at the centre of decisions will be best positioned to demonstrate the value of incentive travel.”
Padraic Gilligan, head of consultancy and research at SITE, said: “The value of incentive travel depends on delivering an experience people want to earn and can reach with confidence. This year’s Index gives our industry evidence to have more informed conversations with clients and destination partners about the choices behind a successful programme.”
The Incentive Travel Index tracks trends in incentive travel across buyers, agencies and destination and hospitality suppliers and the 2026 edition is available here
