June 30, 2025
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
For the best research and industry insights, I always look forward to the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) 2025 Invitational. As a board member, in conversation with industry peers and partners, and at the education sessions, I always gain perspective on what’s happening in our marketplace and best practices for our clients’ programs. This year my colleague Jennifer Mazza and I attended the event that took place at AVA Resort Cancun where roughly 500 industry leaders met, learned, and connected. Here are my top five takeaways from the event:
Volatility
Different segments of the industry are performing very differently. European destinations are seeing a 26% drop in US-based requests for proposals and Canadian companies are largely sourcing for programs outside of the United States, but US-based incentive programs are thriving and moving quickly from RFP to commitment. That aligns with a very strong proposal and contracting season we are seeing here at NXL for 2026 and 2027. How will this play out with supply, demand, and prices? That remains to be seen.
Tariffs
Many companies are protecting themselves contractually from the potential impact of tariffs, including the possibility of price readjustment should tariffs affect goods not already in the US. This may especially impact gifting costs in the next couple of years.
Budgets
Corporate end users are recommending budgeting for a 10% year over year contingency fund to account for inflation, tariffs, and other budgetary pressures. If budget concerns are seriously impacting an organization, retaining the highest level of incentive trip will pay dividends in capturing incremental revenue, while cost adjustments can be made to other programs, if required.
Generations
Attendees are changing! With more Millennials and Gen Z in the workforce than Baby Boomers or Gen Xers, it’s time to think about the nuances in travel program design. While the core principles of recognition remain the same – after all it’s human nature! – reliance on technology, increased free time, and food & beverages preferences are all changing. It’s a good time to revisit your program inclusions to stay relevant.
Top Performing Companies
The Top Performer studies produced by IRF offer the best benchmarking and best practices in the business and they are getting an update. In the pre-release presentation, we learned that 93% of Top Performing Companies include Incentive Travel, 93% include Reward Points, and 94% include Gift Cards. In fact, in Automotive and Manufacturing industries, fully 100% offer an incentive trip and rate their trips as highly effective. As soon as the report is released, we’ll share our insights.
Want to learn more about research shared at the 2025 Incentive Research Foundation Invitational? Here’s where you can find the latest:
Stay tuned—we’ll share more soon about how you can apply the science of incentives to your programs.
In the meantime, contact us for more information or for help in building a program that’s on budget and motivates your audience to hit the targets you set.
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