The latest report pinpoints what’s trending in incentive destination preferences, program inclusions, budgeting, and perceptions of the strategic importance of incentive travel — plus a pulse-check on hot topics such as technology, artificial intelligence, climate issues and sustainability.

The incentive travel industry is poised to continue to grow through 2026, according to the 2024 Incentive Travel Index (ITI), released at IMEX America in October. Also projected to grow over the next two years are per-person spending, despite worries around rising costs, attracting talent to the industry and safety considerations. The ITI is a joint initiative of the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), in partnership with Oxford Economics.

Here are seven key insights and takeaways from the report you can use to shape planning decisions around your organization’s reward-travel programs.

• Spend on incentive travel is on the rise. More than half (54%) of the more than 2,850 corporate planners, agency planners, and hospitality suppliers from around the world who participated in the research said they plan to spend more on incentive travel next year than this year. Another 55% said they plan to spend more in 2026.

However, many said they don’t expect per-person spending — which averages $4,900 — to keep up with inflation. Still, only 11% said they plan to cut back next year, and even fewer, 6%, said they’d have to cut back in 2026. As we move into 2026, the percentage of respondents who expected spending increases to lag behind or just match inflation decreased as expectations for increases due to improved programs rises. However, more suppliers and DMCs anticipated program improvements would be the main contributor to per-person spending growth by 2026 than did buyers. Those who did anticipate having to cut back on per-person spending said the most likely cuts would come to the number of activities, reduced gifting, and shorter duration activities.

• Hotel and airfare remain the top budget busters. Hotel and airfare account for nearly half of program budgets, the survey found, with hotels taking up 27% of the total budget allocation, up from 25% last year. About half of all buyers expect this situation to continue with more hotel price increases next year. Airfare isn’t far behind, at 22%, which 47% expect will also increase next year. Food and beverage also eats up around 18% of travel incentive budgets and is expected to rise again next year by 45% of respondents. Activities are good for 13% of the budget, with the remainder going to third-party agency fees, ground transportation and gifting.

• Number of activities also anticipated to increase over the next two years. Well over a third (37%) also plan to be increasing their incentive activities in 2025, and another 45% plan to do the same in 2026, which could account for some of the increase in spend expectations.

But perhaps not all. In addition to inflation, there also may be other issues in play. As IRF President Stephanie Harris pointed out, “The strategic importance of incentive travel is being bolstered by key workplace trends. Retaining talented employees and competitive advantages in hiring are cited as increasing in importance, as well as more recent trends such as new generations of qualifiers and leaders and a more dispersed workforce.”

• Need to do more to appeal to Gen Z. Speaking of those new generations, 41% of respondents said their programs aren’t adapting enough to keep up with generational change in the workforce. Take special note of this trend, especially since a focus on the new generations of qualifiers and leaders is a top factor to the strategic importance of travel incentives for 70% of respondents, topped only by a greater focus on retaining talented employees, at 81%. In fact, more than two-thirds agreed that the younger generations of qualifiers will cause a powerful “retool” of incentive travel

• Experiences on a group level are key to success. When asked what activities are key to the success of a program, group dining experiences topped the list, followed by group cultural sightseeing excursions, activities that promote relationship building, and free time. That last factor, free time, has increased in importance the most since last year’s survey, rising from eighth to fourth globally — and it is especially important to U.S. respondents, who ranked it as the top factor for success this year.

• Buyers are seeking new destinations. Seventy percent of buyers said they are actively seeking out new destinations they haven’t used previously. Interestingly, they also expect to use more destinations that are closer to home rather than urban and farther-flung destinations. For North American buyers, this means sticking more to Western Europe, the Caribbean and Mexico than Asia Pacific, for example. Part of this could be a growing concern of the impact of air travel on the environment: 18% said that, over the next few years, long-haul incentives may no longer be justifiable in the context of climate change. Other concerns include an increase in the importance of safety, perceived risk from a geopolitical perspective, political considerations and risks from extreme weather.

• Resorts gaining in popularity. Resorts, both regular and all-inclusive, also are getting more interest from buyers looking to 2025 and 2026, the report found. The reasons for that include budget, greater availability of high-end all-inclusives than in the past, and the convenience factor. Expectations for cruise incentives seem to be a mixed bag, with the majority planning to stay the course. Only river cruises are anticipated to increase more than decline over the next couple of years.