The Travel Trends 2026 Will Hinge On | Setting the Stage for IPW

Welcome to a special scene-setter for our IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Geoff Freeman sits down again with Afar deputy editor Michelle Baran, one year after their last IPW conversation, for one of our most wide-ranging travel industry interviews yet: a candid read on the travel trends 2026 will hinge on. Geoff leads the trade group that advocates for the U.S. travel industry and puts on IPW each year. He and Michelle pick up where they left off, tracing a year of striking contrasts for American travel. In this episode, Geoff and Michelle discuss: The resilience of the domestic traveler, and a record quarter for hotels even through a government shutdown and hours-long TSA lines Why the U.S. was the only country in the world to see international visitation decline, with Canadian travel down more than 20 percent Geoff's blunt view of federal shutdowns, and U.S. Travel's push to carve TSA and air traffic control out of future standoffs The split screen in the numbers, a 2.6 trillion dollar contribution to GDP and 24.4 million jobs, set against a 5.5 percent drop in international visitors How a proposed 250 dollar visa fee and long visa wait times risk making the country less competitive just as demand runs high How competitors are capitalizing, from booming travel to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean to China easing entry for European visitors, even as American travel demand stays historically high Why the World Cup is both a huge opportunity and a test, and how travel still works as diplomacy This is the scene-setter for a series of travel industry interviews and tourism experts interviews recorded around IPW 2026, part of View From Afar's ongoing look at travel trends 2026, travel industry news, and the travel industry challenges facing inbound U.S. travel. For the big-picture context behind the travel trends 2026 will be defined by, it is a front-row conversation with one of the hospitality industry leaders shaping the future of travel. Chapters 00:00:00 Resilience and the Inbound Decline 00:06:00 Aviation as a Political Hostage 00:11:00 The Perception Gap 00:14:00 Winning Canadians Back 00:19:00 What's New at IPW 2026 00:28:00 Travel as Diplomacy Resources Listen to last year's conversation with Geoff Freeman, recorded live at IPW Chicago Read Geoff's Afar op-ed, Welcoming Travelers When America Feels Challenged Explore Afar's World Cup guide Learn more about the U.S. Travel Association and IPW Catch the Live From IPW episodes starting May 20, featuring executives representing destinations from Seattle to Puerto Rico Stay Connected Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all 14 IPW episodes next week Follow @AfarMedia on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠ for behind-the-scenes IPW content. ⁠Sign up⁠ for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor. Explore our other podcasts, ⁠Travel Tales⁠, where we share first-person narratives of trips that have changed us, and ⁠⁠⁠Unpacked⁠⁠⁠, which unpacks a tricky topic in travel each week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices