Incentive travel is poised for significant growth through 2026

Incentive travel is poised for significant growth, with a new report predicting increased spending and an elevated strategic role for the sector.

Incentive travel buyers have shared that activity and per-person spending will surpass 2024 levels in the next two years. This comes as senior leadership views on incentive travel evolve, presenting a demand for incentive travel to play more of a distinct role in motivation and culture-building while also managing programmes for financial ROI.

These takeaways were derived from a survey conducted by the newly released 2024 Incentive Travel Index (ITI), a joint initiative of the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) undertaken in partnership with Oxford Economics.

In addition to increased spending, workplace trends are also enhancing the strategic importance of incentive travel. A greater focus on retaining talented employees and maintaining a competitive hiring advantage were cited as key factors shaping incentive travel’s future.

The report also identified emerging new generations of leaders and qualifiers and a more dispersed workforce as trends that will amplify the need for incentive travel. However, with sustainability on the rise, carbon footprint concerns will likely become a central focus for businesses planning such programmes.

Disruptions ahead for incentive travel

Change is coming for the incentive travel sector – most respondents of the survey agree that younger generations of qualifiers will cause a powerful “retool” of incentive travel. Most believe that AI will be used effectively within incentive travel in the future to prepare programme materials and plan, forecast, and budget.

However, the human touch will still be imperative for incentive travel, some planners say, citing its high touch and personalised nature that may render AI ineffective.

Buyers are also looking for destinations they haven’t been to before, with regular and all-inclusive resorts also experiencing an upward trend in popularity.