curious intersection – operating, it seems, with myriad browser tabs open: geopolitics in one corner, climate alarms in another, culture war notifications, AI re-writing the operating system, and cost-of-living pressures draining our mental battery.

And yet we persist, determined to craft experiences that transform, uplift and re-ignite the best in our people. So what’ s the 2026 headline?

Volatility is the new normal. And yet, paradoxically, demand for incentive travel is robust, rising, and increasingly valued.

Here are the trends I see materialising on the horizon.

1. A higher-cost world and the return of value anxiety Across global markets, the cost of delivering aspirational, awe-inducing incentive programs has risen sharply. Airlift, luxury accommodation, labour, and food – none are easing. This drives a brutal equation: if budgets can’ t rise, experiences must bend.

And so we have a surge of all-inclusive,“ contained” environments – sun, sand, sea, and predictable price points. But cheap isn’ t cheerful when it comes to motivation. The risk is that incentives

become commoditised: a holiday, not a transformational engine.

2026 must be the year we double down on value, not volume – spend smart, not less.

2. AI becomes infrastructure and a teammate 2026 may be the year AI becomes both invisible and indispensable.

• Research points to AI not as a tool but as“ a core operating layer,” reshaping everything from workflows to talent strategies. Incentive travel will feel this in four ways:

• Hyper-personalised program design

• Dynamic, data-driven attendee journeys

• AI-enhanced service delivery on-site

• Sharper ROI measurement But there’ s a twist. As machines take on more cognitive tasks, the human elements- belonging, connection, shared experience – become priceless. Incentive travel sits squarely in that sweet spot.

3. Compliance tightens and becomes a catalyst Climate, DEI, duty of care, cyber security, AI governance – pick your acronym, and a regulator is waiting in the long grass to snag you.

Above:

Pádraic Gilligan

4. Tourism growth returns, unevenly While travel demand continues to rebound, recovery remains patchy. Some regions speed ahead; others limp. The Incentive Travel Index echoes this story year after year.

This uneven recovery is reshaping destination selection. Safety, geopolitical risk, culture wars and travel-time fatigue all play decisive roles.“ New, near and safe” is more than a slogan.

5. The rise of fragmented realities‘ Can travel rebuild shared truth?’ With deepfakes, misinformation, and atomised digital tribes, the answer might be yes.

Group travel fosters‘ shared truth’ through lived experiences. Awe resets the emotional circuitry. The world becomes big again, not filtered and flattened.

Incentive programs may become, and not for the first time, quiet acts of social repair.

More companies are re-imagining incentive travel as part of their culture architecture. Storytelling, purpose, and social impact now define excellence as much as gastronomy or a five-star suite.

With cost pressures, demographic complexity, AI transformation, and cultural fragmentation, you may believe the industry is bracing for a storm. Yet the opposite feels true.

We’ re entering a period of intelligent optimism, grounded in data, realism, and a renewed commitment to the transformative power of travel. In 2026, in a world of autonomous bots and eroding trust, it is one of the last great engines of shared meaning. Now that’ s something worth travelling for. n