{"id":280656,"date":"2026-05-22T10:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/280656\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:41:13","slug":"ipw-2026-closes-connecting-5k-attendees-and-us-suppliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/280656\/","title":{"rendered":"IPW 2026 closes: Connecting 5K attendees and US suppliers"},"content":{"rendered":"

IPW 2026<\/a> has wrapped after five full days of appointments, networking and standout events in the Florida sun, drawing a line in the sand about the state of inbound international tourism to the United States and looking forward with strategic purpose. Karryon reports from Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n

The USA\u2019s premier travel trade and media marketplace attracted around 1,700 international travel buyers and 500 media representatives from more than 70 countries to attend IPW 2026<\/a> from 17\u201321 May.<\/p>\n

U.S. Travel Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman revealed the latest inbound tourism figures, sharing that the USA was the only country in the world to see a decline in international travel in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IPWThe U.S. Travel Association\u2019s IPW event is the premier travel trade and media marketplace for the US.<\/p>\n

The US travel industry policy and advocacy organisation was refreshingly upfront about international travellers\u2019 perceptions of the United States, addressing the underlying issues and sharing the inroads and initiatives developed to combat the decline.<\/p>\n

These include Brand USA\u2019s latest programs: \u2018American Originals<\/a>\u2018 and \u2018Get Facts. Get Going<\/a>, designed to both inspire and inform travellers and advisors and dispel common misconceptions about travelling to the US right now.<\/p>\n

\"HelloworldHelloworld Travel Limited\u2019s Joshua Hewett, Dominique Atzenhoffer, Jordan Carpenter and Alysha Hughes, BYRDLI\u2019s Vanessa Richards and Travel USA\u2019s Sean Gay. Image: Cassie Tannenberg<\/p>\n

U.S. Travel Association also shared new YouGov survey results that showed 91 per cent of international travellers said they were satisfied with their recent US trip and 83 per cent felt welcome during their visit.<\/p>\n

The sentiment shift was felt in conversations both on the trade floor and at networking events as international buyers and media connected with US suppliers in person.<\/p>\n

\"Canuckiwi'sCanuckiwi\u2019s Joanne Motta, Karen McCardle & Corey Marshall. Image: Cassie Tannenberg<\/p>\n

In addition, South Florida brought the summer vibes, starting with the Press Brunch at The Fort, an outdoor venue on a beachside lake with pop-up food and drink, entertainment, activations and more, plus themed local tours including the Everglades.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It was followed by the IPW 2026 Opening Party on Fort Lauderdale Beach \u2013 a sprawling open-air affair with activations, food and beverage tents, live music, DJs and themed areas setting the scene.<\/p>\n

\"VisitVisit Lauderdale team. Image: Cassie Tannenberg<\/p>\n

Days were filled with appointments and hosted lunches from Visit California and Royal Caribbean Group, while nights included the NYC Center Stage event, bringing Broadway to Fort Lauderdale, and supplier-hosted parties around town.<\/p>\n

The IPW 2026 Closing Party took place in front of the Broward County Convention Center, culminating with a full festival atmosphere, including a DJ, live music, entertainers, food trucks, carnival rides and arcade games, plus plenty of nostalgic snacks and drinks.<\/p>\n

\"BYRDLI'sBYRDLI\u2019s Vanessa Richards, Luxury Escapes\u2019 Alexis Cunningham and Visit California\u2019s Eva Huezo at the IPW 2026 Closing Party. Image: Cassie Tannenberg<\/p>\n

While overall attendance was down across international travel buyers and media and US suppliers compared to previous years, the general mood was buoyant.<\/p>\n

Destination marketing organisations (DMOs) and brands are looking towards the future, deploying targeted initiatives to woo inbound travellers and address travel barriers, against a backdrop of global uncertainty as DMOs and brands reforecast budgets.<\/p>\n

\"VisitTeam Visit Seattle at the Fans of Seattle celebration at IPW 2026. Image: Cassie Tannenberg<\/p>\n

In this climate, brands are increasingly leaning into storytelling and emotive motivation to target high-value travellers.<\/p>\n

Riding a Bad Bunny-fuelled Super Bowl high that moved Puerto Rico from broad awareness to high-authority brand engagement, Discover Puerto Rico CMO Storm Tussey said travellers are \u201cincreasingly choosing the island for authentic cultural experiences that create emotional connection and lasting memories\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"OrlandoOrlando Magic\u2019s Stuff the Magic Dragon, retired basketball player Bo Outlaw and Visit Orlando President & CEO Casandra Matej at the Visit Orlando press conference at IPW 2026.<\/p>\n

NYC Tourism + Conventions President & CEO Julie Coker added that research consistently shows the most meaningful experiences are iconic moments that turn into personal moments.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a case for inducing an emotional connection by showcasing experiences and moments over promoting landmarks and places.<\/p>\n

\"BrandBrand USA\u2019s \u2018America the Beautiful\u2019 campaign at IPW 2026.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one that the US, through both Brand USA\u2019s\u00a0 \u2018America the Beautiful<\/a>\u2018 campaign and the marketing efforts of states, regions, cities and brands, hopes will cut through the noise to the core of why we travel.<\/p>\n

IPW 2027 will take place in New Orleans from 2\u20136 May 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IPW 2026 has wrapped after five full days of appointments, networking and standout events in the Florida sun,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-280656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}