{"id":3111,"date":"2022-07-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siteglobal.com\/digging-deeper-into-new-incentive-travel-destination-data\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T14:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:17:07","slug":"digging-deeper-new-incentive-travel-destination-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siteglobal.com\/blog\/digging-deeper-new-incentive-travel-destination-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging Deeper into New Incentive Travel Destination Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) made headlines in late June with a new body of research on incentive travel qualifier destination preferences. <\/span><\/span><\/h2>

The IRF presented an excellent summary<\/a> of their findings and more data online as both a white paper<\/a> and reference deck<\/a>. Beyond just the obvious takeaways, here are several other data points for incentive travel professionals to keep top of mind. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

Consider the data source<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

A caveat before jumping into this data: as rich and robust as it is, the IRF focused solely on surveying American qualifiers in sales roles. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

We\u2019re excited to see how we\u2019ll be able to expand on the insights here through the joint Incentive Travel Index (ITI) work we\u2019re doing this summer with the IRF, FICP, and Oxford Economics (and want to hear from<\/a> more professionals outside of North America!). <\/span><\/span><\/p>

SITE Foundation research debuting this fall also highlights the challenge leaders face in expanding incentive travel programs outside of sales teams \u2014 with leaders learning from past lukewarm strategies for expanding programs, and curious about how to design fair qualification schemes. This is another compelling research pathway to consider venturing down in future months and years. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

But onto the data at hand! <\/span><\/span><\/p>

Will domestic appetites remain? <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

Determining where people feel comfortable going is a question we\u2019re all raising. Coming out of the worst of the pandemic, we\u2019ve seen US travelers trend domestic, preferring US destinations (including Hawaii) and\/or the Caribbean. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

The IRF speculated this could be attributed at least in part to safety concerns. But with testing re-entry requirements now lifted and the US facing its own turbulent socio-political challenges that have escalated since this research was conducted in spring 2022, this might be changing \u2014 only time can truly tell here. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

Still, the data doesn\u2019t lie with where US incentive qualifiers want to go. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

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