It’s a conundrum that’s top of mind for many incentive professionals right now: how to stretch your planning dollars, while still delivering standout experiences that will result in truly transformational incentive travel programs.
Ready to share some solutions to exactly this challenge is experienced incentive professional Tiffany Cohen, who led a vibrant exploration of emerging, budget-friendly incentive travel destinations at this year’s SITE Global Conference.
Tiffany, who serves as Senior Vice President of Incentives and Global Sourcing at Opus Agency, left Global Conference attendees with plenty of exciting destination ideas to begin exploring as they chart new options for 2026 programs and beyond.
Pointing to findings from the 2024 Incentive Travel Index, which found that 70 percent of incentive buyers are actively looking for new-to-them destinations not previously used before, Tiffany began her breakout session by making the case for the industry to adopt a different lens on destination selection.
We can widen considerations, she said, to include what she called “new value” destinations. With some respondents reporting flat, or even reduced expected program spend as another trend coming from the Incentive Travel Index, Tiffany advised keeping in mind the adage that “You don’t need a bigger budget: you need a better idea” when challenged to find interesting and fresh destinations to pitch back to clients.
Tiffany began her presentation with a deeper exploration of Fiji, an example she said stands out since it’s not a destination that many planners might think of as a budget-friendly option.
When you start doing the math though — as Tiffany did, for attendees in the breakout — costs are relatively comparable for flights, and noticeably lower (at the time of her presentation) for lodging, food & beverage packages, and activities.
Fiji is also a leader in ecotourism, Tiffany pointed out, and offers great CSR options: ticking even more must-includes that are increasingly part of incentive travel RFPs.
Tiffany offered several other higher level comparisons, that included:
- Morocco, as a potential budget-friendly destination compared to the UAE, Monaco, or Sicily
- Lisbon or other Portuguese destinations, as an intriguing alternative to qualifiers who love European destinations (like Rome, Paris, or Venice)
- Cartagena, Colombia, as an exciting emerging locale that can be more budget-friendly than traditional “sun and fun” standbys like Los Cabos or San Juan
- Southeast Asia, as a region to watch overall — with strong currency conversion and standout hotel and activity offerings right now
Closing out the session, Tiffany also asked those in the room for some of their favorite recent finds. Attendee destination picks included:
- Thailand, as a Southeast Asian destination receiving more interest again: especially with the current season of “White Lotus” airing now
- Peru, for good food & beverage savings
- Ecuador, which one delegate described as a “Young Galapagos”
- India
- The Baltics, as another “European alternative”
- Slovenia, which earned high marks for its old world European charm
- Canada, for North American groups looking to stay closer to home and limit travel times
And if our crowdsourced suggestions still aren’t hitting the mark, incentive professionals can also download SITE’s newest inSITES report, “Destination inSITEs.”
This report also debuted at SITE Global Conference, and explores destination selection and Incentive Travel Index findings in even greater depth.
Thank you to Tiffany, and to all of our 2025 SITE Global Conference presenters, for sharing their industry knowledge with us!
