By JAMES BALE, Journalist
IPW 2026: “Houston, we might have a problem”
Last month, Travel Daily‘s editorial director Damian Francis wrote in the Weekly Wrap about the state of inbound travel to the United States going into this year’s edition of IPW.
When he attended the event last year in Chicago, it was off the back of tariffs, the 51st state discourse and riots ensuing in cities across the country.
This year, I was attending amidst a similar situation, potentially even more intense. In the time between both events, it was safe to say that the ICE raids in Minneapolis, the infamous proposed social media policy, and of course the government’s actions in the Middle East, had all cast a rather negative spotlight on the nation.
The key talking point going into IPW 2026, hosted in Fort Lauderdale, was that numbers for US travel were, and still are,significantly down.
As highlighted by Damian in last month’s Wrap, Australia, and all the other key markets across APAC, have seen significant drops, with numbers nowhere near pre-pandemic levels.
Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) CEO Dean Long spoke with Travel Daily on the matter, saying that Aussies are “increasingly choosing Asia over America”.
If I could sum up IPW in one concept, it would be that the US has admitted that it might have an image problem, which couldn’t have come at a worse time – on the eve of the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles in ’28.
Brand USA established its initial solutions – slick new marketing campaigns in ‘Get Facts. Get Going.’, and last year, ‘America the Beautiful’.
‘Get Facts. Get Going’ is the more direct response out of the two when it comes to this image problem, designed to provide travellers with real-time updates about entry and visa policies, as well as debunking misconceptions about trying to get into the country.
Speaking at the joint-US Travel Association and Brand USA press conference, US Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman expressed how these misconceptions have been blown out of proportion and have placed a further dent in the already dwindling inbound numbers.
“A $50 billion travel trade surplus (is now) a $70 billion deficit,” he said.
“While global travel grew by more than 10%, travel to the United States declined by 5%.”
He also took aim at the situation around privacy and device searches at the borders.
“I hear this concern over and over and over, I’ve seen horror stories in the media, and yet, the percentage of people that have a device searched or a secondary screening when they enter the United States is the exact same in the Trump administration, as it was in the Biden administration,” he exclaimed.
Freeman also announced that the proposed social media policy and $250 visa free was indeed not coming into effect.
Speaking with many of the individual tourism boards, the numbers for Aussie inbound tourists seemingly remained solid, especially across the core markets such as LA, NYC, Vegas and Alaska.
It made me think about a concept that Flight Centre Travel Group’s (FCTG) CEO for leisure, James ‘JK’ Kavanagh, loves to emphasise – that Australians’ love of travel won’t be deterred by everything that goes on around them.
While the generally popular US destinations for Australians have seen less of a softening, that has meant that the significant fall has come at the cost of destinations previously trying to get a foothold in the Australian outbound market.
These US destinations are keen to do whatever they can to get Australians to consider them.
A story which featured in last Wednesday’s issue of Travel Daily was my interview with Christi Braginton from Virginia Tourism, who expressed the state’s desire to target Aussie travellers to open new markets, alongside showcasing an alternate option to the usual tourist hotspots.
“We see a lot of interest from Australians in music – so instead of Memphis or Nashville, they can go to Bristol, the official birthplace of country music,” she told me.
“Within a short span, we have mountains on our western side and beaches on our eastern side.
“You’re only talking about three-and-a-half [or] four hours, in between them… you can do pretty much any outdoor activity you can think of – we have that accessible within Virginia.”
The tourism heads across other markets that are not traditionally top of the thought pile for Australians, such as DC, Philadelphia and Utah, also expressed their desire to see more Aussies to their destination.
A video showcasing all of them can be found on Travel Daily’s social pages.
The next 12-month period will play a huge role in how the United States is projected to the international community.
Many in and around the US tourism industry will also be keeping an eye out for the upcoming mid-terms elections, as changes within Congress have the potential to limit the ability of the Trump administration following through with some of its initiatives.
Despite tourism sweating on the outcome of the US-Israel-Iran war, in both an economic and marketing sense, I would point (not flippantly) to the World Cup as hopefully a key turning point in the image of the US.
The event will bring together fans from all over the globe, all with different worldviews, cultures, and importantly a variety of political ideals and regimes.
If it goes off without a hitch, it will be a big PR win for the States.
In other news…
Journey Beyond’s chief commercial officer Matt Cameron-Smith has labelled the need for air connections between Australia’s main hubs and Uluru a matter of “national importance”, following the recent announcement that Virgin Australia would suspend its Red Centre routes from Brisbane and Melbourne.
“Unless we can fulfil that very important Sydney, Reef and Rock piece in an efficient and effective way, it means that international travellers might go to another destination,” Cameron-Smith told Travel Daily.
He also revealed that demand for Central Australia was at an all-time high.
“We have seen demand grow to pre-pandemic levels and we are still at half the air network we had pre-COVID, so the good news is that the destination has never been more popular.”
Meanwhile, research from iSelect has revealed that two thirds of Australians are currently without travel plans, and that almost half of Aussies have not travelled in the past six months.
The report also highlighted the growing divide between those who can afford to travel, and those priced out of it.
“For many households, it’s no longer a question of where to go next, but whether travel is financially realistic at all right now,” iSelect comparison expert Sophie Ryan said.
One of the biggest news stories was Melbourne-based travel package company AVG Travels entering liquidation, only a week after the company cancelled tours on its customers.
Travel Daily reported that the company was selling heavily discounted travel packages and reportedly told customers that their bookings were in doubt due to “operational scheduling adjustments”.
In appointment news, the current general manager for Air New Zealand in Australia Kathryn O’Brien is set to join Tourism Australia as its new executive general manager – global markets, effective 10 Aug.
Webjet Group has also appointed chief financial officer Layton Shannos as its interim CEO, following the resignation of Katrina Barry.
Shannos has been with Webjet since 2013 and previously held the role of CFO of Webjet OTA before the demerger. He has been current group CFO for the past two years.
The board is still on the lookout for a permanent successor to Barry.
In the world of cruising, Celestyal Cruises has announced that it will be pulling the pin on its 2026/27 Arabian Gulf program due to the Iran War, with Celestyal Journey and Celestyal Discovery now sailing an expanded Mediterranean program.
Furthermore, Ponant Explorations has revealed two new Inuit Arctic cruises set for a Spring 2027 departure, following the success of the inaugural sailing this year.
The experiences on offer, led by local villagers and hunters, include dog sledding, kayaking, ice fishing, ski touring, overnight stays in traditional Inuit tents, and evenings hearing stories and legends passed down by locals.
Enjoy the weekend.
James Bale
Journalist
[email protected]
