The Phocuswright Conference 2026 to Tackling AI Disruption | News
Phocuswright this week announced the theme for its 2026 annual conference: Pressures. Current. Running. A framework for examining the forces reshaping the way demand is created, captured and converted in the travel industry. Registration is open now, with an early interest period offering $800 in savings and closing on May 29.
The theme reflects a travel landscape that is simultaneously under pressure from multiple directions. Artificial intelligence is developing faster than most organizations can absorb. Platform consolidation concentrates distribution power among an ever-shrinking field of gatekeepers. Travelers’ expectations for personalization, immediacy and seamless discovery are rising faster than the industry’s collective ability to meet them. And scrutiny of dominant platforms in key markets is becoming increasingly intense.
“AI is changing not only the way travel is booked, but also the way decisions are made and which brands are considered in the first place. That has significant implications for both discovery and customer relationships across the industry. At an inflection point like this, the Phocuswright Conference is an important forum for challenging assumptions, exchanging ideas and thinking about what’s next for the travel industry. I look forward to being part of that conversation.”
– Brigit Zimmerman, CEO, Priceline and speaker at The Phocuswright Conference 2026
The 2026 conference program will be built around three interrelated themes:
Busy. Technology acceleration, margin compression, regulatory friction and global instability are structural forces, not cyclical forces.
Current. Who controls traveler demand, identity, and discovery, and how AI agents, super apps, and dominant platforms are pushing those boundaries.
Running. From search to intelligence, from experiment to execution: the strategic steps that will separate leaders from laggards.
A particular focus will be on the rise of agentic AI, systems that can interpret travelers’ intent, curate options and complete transactions autonomously. As these models mature, the companies that control the booking process may look very different from the companies that dominate it today. The conference will explore what this transition means for suppliers, intermediaries and technology providers across the stack.
“The travel industry has always found its foundation through disruption. But the scale and simultaneity of what is happening now on AI, the changing platform dynamics and the changing behavior of travelers, require more than just adaptation. It requires a clear view of where the power is moving and the strategic will to move with it.”
– Pete Comeau, director of Phocuswright
The Phocuswright Conference attracts senior decision makers from airlines, hotels, online travel agencies, technology companies and investment firms. The 2026 event continues the meeting’s track record as the industry’s most substantive venue for debate on strategy at a time of real uncertainty.
Registration
Registration is now open at the lowest rate available for the 2026 event. Executives who register by May 29 will save $800, the largest discount in the pricing cycle. Rates increase monthly through November. Early registration guarantees both the best price and guaranteed entry to an event that historically sells out among senior industry participants.
Full speaker and programming details will be released in the coming months.
