Incentive travel trends point to a need for event marketers to provide bespoke experiences with a more mindful, authentic and memorable approach to program design.

Meetings Today LIVE! Corporate/Incentive kicked off this week in The Bahamas, giving planners the opportunity to meet face-to-face with some of the top suppliers in the incentives sector and pairing the business experience with myriad activities offered at our host property, Atlantis Paradise Island.

The incentives sector of the meetings and events industry has been making a slow and steady comeback following the pandemic, and based on results from this year’s Incentive Travel Index (ITI), it’s safe to say incentives are back and better than ever.

Two days before IMEX America officially began, the 2024 SITE Young Leaders Conference took place at the iconic Golden Nugget Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the event. 

The incentive travel segment has undergone a fairly radical transformation starting with the pandemic, when travel restrictions and outright shutdowns—especially to international destinations—caused a whole industry to reexamine itself or simply survive.

What does an “Instagram-worthy” incentive moment look like? According to Gen Z (and incentive industry experts), the answer is off-the-beaten-path destinations, authentic local experiences, freedom of choice and enough down time to make a program their own.

By the time you read this, Laurie Sharp will have been living and working remotely in Les Praz, France, in the Chamonix Mont-Blanc Valley, for over a month. Here are a few of the venues she’s explored and people she’s met thus far.

Following Business Events Australia’s Dreamtime 2023 incentive showcase, Meetings Today’s Taylor Smith traveled to tropical Far North Queensland to experience the city of Cairns, the only city in the world “where the rainforest meets the reef.”

Senior contributor Jeff Heilman joins Lindblad Expeditions for an unforgettable journey to Patagonia, where high-end incentive experiences await.