Published on
January 4, 2026

IMM North America is scheduled to take place on January 21 and 22, 2026, in Manhattan, New York. The event is organized by TravMedia and forms part of its International Media Marketplace series. The 2026 edition marks the event’s 14th year and is positioned as a structured meeting platform for travel brands, tourism organizations, and travel-focused media. The program centers on pre-arranged meetings, professional development sessions, and networking activities designed to facilitate media engagement within the travel industry.

The event is planned to be hosted at the Javits Center and is expected to bring together global travel brands with editors, journalists, broadcasters, and content creators. The structure emphasizes efficiency in media interactions, with meetings arranged in advance using a dedicated scheduling system.

Pre-Scheduled Meetings as the Core Format

Pre-booked meetings form the central operational format of IMM North America. Exhibitors are provided access to a meeting management system designed to match travel brands with media attendees from the United States and Canada. Through this system, exhibitors are scheduled for up to 24 one-on-one meetings, each conducted within defined time slots.

These appointments are structured to allow travel organizations to present story ideas, destination updates, and tourism-related initiatives to relevant media contacts in a concentrated timeframe. The format supports direct interaction between tourism representatives and media professionals, with meetings distributed evenly across the event schedule on the second day.

In addition to scheduled appointments, designated networking breaks are integrated throughout the program to allow for informal discussions. These sessions are positioned alongside sponsored lunches and cocktail functions, contributing to more than 7.5 hours of open networking over the course of the event.

Travel Media Engagement in a Structured Marketplace Environment

Travel-focused media engagement is positioned as a central outcome of IMM North America. The event structure reflects a marketplace model where tourism brands and media participants engage through scheduled and unscheduled interactions. This format enables travel-related stories, campaigns, and destination narratives to be discussed within a controlled and time-efficient setting.

The emphasis remains on facilitating communication between tourism organizations and media outlets that specialize in travel coverage. By concentrating meetings and networking into a two-day window, the event supports sustained interaction while minimizing logistical complexity for participants. The design prioritizes accessibility to media contacts for travel brands and provides media representatives with exposure to a wide range of tourism stakeholders.

Tourism Conversations Framed Around Industry Connectivity

Tourism-focused conversations are embedded throughout the IMM North America program. The event’s design supports broad discussion across multiple aspects of travel storytelling, tourism promotion, and media collaboration. These exchanges are structured to reflect ongoing engagement between the tourism sector and travel-focused media, with attention placed on long-term relationship development rather than single-use interactions.

The inclusion of both formal meetings and informal networking segments enables tourism-related discussions to continue beyond scheduled appointments. This approach supports a consistent flow of engagement across the event and aligns with the broader objective of strengthening connections between travel brands and media professionals operating within the tourism space.

Professional Development Through the TravMedia Summit

The first day of IMM North America includes the TravMedia Summit, which functions as the event’s professional development component. The summit is structured as a conference-style program featuring multiple sessions focused on industry trends, media practices, and content development within the travel sector.

Sessions scheduled for Day 1 include discussions on travel trends for 2026, independent publishing within travel media, generational content approaches, wellness tourism storytelling, editorial strategy, and freelancing within the travel industry. The summit includes speakers from travel media organizations, tourism marketing bodies, and industry leadership roles.

Networking breaks are interspersed throughout the summit agenda, along with a sponsored networking lunch and a keynote session addressing the role of artificial intelligence in media. The summit concludes with a cocktail function, allowing participants to continue discussions initiated during the sessions.

Appointment-Led Program Structure on Day Two

Day 2 of IMM North America is fully dedicated to pre-scheduled meetings between exhibitors and media attendees. The day begins with exhibitor setup and media registration, followed by a welcome address. A total of 24 appointment slots are distributed across the day, divided into four sets of six meetings, each lasting 15 minutes.

Morning and afternoon networking breaks are scheduled between appointment blocks, along with a sponsored lunch. The event concludes with a cocktail function, providing an additional opportunity for informal engagement after the completion of scheduled meetings.

This appointment-led structure ensures consistent interaction between travel brands and media participants while maintaining a predictable and organized schedule. The format reflects the event’s focus on efficiency and targeted engagement within the travel media landscape.

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