The 2025 Incentive Travel Index reveals an industry trading extravagance for relevance—and rewriting the rules of motivation
It’s getting harder to sell the dream.
That was the unspoken through-line as the 2025 Incentive Travel Index (ITI) debuted at IMEX America, where the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) unveiled their eighth global study in partnership with Oxford Economics. Drawing on the insights of 2,700 professionals across 85 countries, the report confirms what many in the business already feel: incentive travel isn’t disappearing—but it’s evolving under pressure.
The data shows modest growth through 2027, but optimism is flattening. Participant numbers are expected to hold steady in 2026, with escalating costs, geopolitical turbulence, and shifting workforce values reshaping how companies use—and justify—travel as a motivational tool.
“While 75% of respondents agree that the value of incentive travel remains strong, they also say the business gets tougher every year,” said Stephanie Harris, IRF President. “Incentive professionals are under pressure to deliver more with less—without compromising quality or impact.”
A Perfect Storm of Pressure Points
Parts of the ITI report reads like a stress test for the entire industry. Cost escalation, risk management, and logistical friction now rank among the biggest challenges facing planners. Budgets haven’t kept pace with inflation, while demand for elevated experiences continues to rise.
Overlay that with a geopolitical landscape defined by trade tensions, political unrest, and natural disasters, and it’s easy to see why risk mitigation has gone from a checklist item to a strategic discipline.
Program managers are recalibrating itineraries based on airline stability, weather volatility, and regional perception of safety. They’re also balancing the new arithmetic of value: how to design experiences that feel exclusive without appearing excessive.
“Geopolitical uncertainty is making short-haul programs and regionalized rewards more attractive,” the study notes, a finding echoed across both corporate and agency respondents. In other words, incentive travel hasn’t slowed—it’s simply shrinking its radius.
The Next Evolution: From Reward to Relevance
If the 2010s were about prestige, the 2020s are about purpose. According to the ITI’s Evolution of Incentive Travel analysis, the very definition of incentive is expanding—from exotic getaways to experiences that deliver meaning, connection, and inclusion.
Participants, particularly younger earners, now want more than a destination—they want a story to tell. The “trip of a lifetime” has become the “trip that aligns with my values.” CSR activations, cultural immersion, and personal growth elements are becoming as vital as luxury accommodations.
“Nearly 70% of buyers are seeking destinations they haven’t used before,” said SITE CEO Annette Gregg. “And 63% already have new ones booked for 2026 or 2027. What hasn’t changed is what matters most: direct air access, top-tier accommodations, and a trusted DMC.”
What’s changing, though, is why people travel. The new generation of qualifiers expects programs that blend recognition with authenticity—where impact, sustainability, and storytelling feel less like add-ons and more like the itinerary’s spine.
AI Joins the Itinerary
Artificial intelligence is quietly infiltrating the incentive space—not as a gimmick, but as an efficiency engine. From predictive modeling of participant preferences to generative content for destination teasers, AI is reducing administrative drag while opening creative bandwidth.
The report cites early adopters using AI to personalize reward communications, analyze participant engagement, and even optimize itineraries for well-being metrics such as rest and recovery time. As one respondent noted, “AI is helping us design travel that feels both smarter and more human.”
Still, the technology is a double-edged sword: while it can enhance planning precision, it also raises expectations for hyper-customization that not every budget can meet.
Incentive Travel’s Identity Check
Taken together, ITI 2025 paints a picture of a sector in transition—from indulgence to intention, from incentive as perk to incentive as proof of culture. The evolution isn’t just demographic; it’s philosophical.
As budgets tighten and the workforce diversifies, incentive travel is being redefined not by extravagance, but by empathy. The best programs will be those that manage to do both—deliver reward and relevance, connection and creativity—while staying rooted in purpose.
Because in an age of economic uncertainty and AI acceleration, the greatest incentive might not be the trip itself, but what it represents: that a company still values shared experience as the ultimate motivator.
Any thoughts, opinions, or news? Please share them with me at vince@meetingsevents.com.
Photo courtesy of Incentive Research Foundation
