October 16, 2025
56th Annual Travel and Tourism Research Association International Conference
June 24 – 26, 2026 ~ Greenville, SC
Proposal Deadline: EOD Monday, November 24, 2025
The Practitioner Committee of the 56th TTRA Annual Conference invites submissions from travel and tourism researcher practitioners for panels, presentations, and discussions relating to the overall conference theme and sub-themes.
The theme for this year’s conference is Shaping the Future of Tourism: Collaborative Horizons in Research, Education, and Practice.
Tourism is undergoing a transformative shift—driven by innovation, disruption, and evolving traveler expectations—making it more critical than ever for industry leaders, academics, and practitioners to collaborate. This year’s conference brings these voices together to explore how research, education, and cross-sector strategy fuel smarter decision-making and strengthen communities. We’re coming together to both reimagine tourism’s role in a rapidly changing world and elevate the image and reputation of the travel and tourism industry. With dynamic dialogue and in-depth sessions, we’ll spotlight not only challenges and opportunities but also practical skills and career pathways for the next generation of tourism professionals. From policy and product development to destination strategy and professional growth, this is where ideas spark action—and where the future of tourism begins to take shape.
This is your opportunity to showcase applied research, innovative strategies, and practical insights that advance both destinations and the tourism industry as a whole. The conference’s formal sub-themes (along with examples of content within those sub-themes) to consider for your submission are:
1. Data & Tech (AI, Big Data, Forecasting, ROI, Market Research)
- Experience Engineering in the Age of AI
- Harnessing AI for Destination Marketing and Research
- Ethical and Practical Implications of AI in Tourism Strategy and Experience Design
- Forecasting the Next Era of Tourism Demand
- Attribution, ROI, and the Future of Destination Marketing Investment
- Geolocation and Movement Analytics for Smarter Planning
- The Future of Lodging Data and Visitor Accommodation Trends
- Bridging Research, Marketing, and Technology for Destination Growth
- The tourism platform ecosystem and digital governance
2. Workforce & Talent (Attraction, Development, Career Pathways)
- Enhancing Tourism Industry’s Image to Attract Talent
- Compensation Levels and Professional Development Pathways in the Tourism Industry
- Age-Friendly Tourism Initiatives
- Cultivating Tomorrow’s Tourism Workforce with Research and Insights
Please note that the career pathing portion of this sub-theme has already been fully recruited.
3. Brand & Strategy (Storytelling, Alignment, Collaboration)
- Strengthening Collaboration Among Industry & Academia
- Reglobalization and the Impact of Geopolitical Tension on Tourism
- Expanding Tourism to the Experience Economy
- Tourism’s Role in Promoting Mental Health
- Data-Driven Storytelling and Destination Strategy
- Building Community Alignment Through Evidence-Based Strategies
- Reimagining Brand Identity in a Changing Travel Landscape
- ESG in tourism
To ensure balance and fairness, organizations are limited to one proposal submission for the 2026 Annual Conference. However, serving as a non-submitting co-presenter or panelist on another organization’s submission will not be counted toward this limit.
Expressions of Interest can be for individual presentations (around 15 minutes, to be joined with up to two other presentations) or whole panel sessions (40 minutes of content and 5 minutes of Q&A). Completely conceptualized and recruited proposals will be given priority, as will those involving multiple speakers, since the Annual Conference emphasizes teamwork and collaboration. Include a brief statement on how the presentation(s) relates to the conferences theme, sub-theme, and meets a research need. Also include a biography of the proposed presenter(s) and indicate which presentation format: Organized Panel, Part of a Panel, Single Presenter Session, etc. you are recommending.
TTRA International highly values diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe that having talented and dedicated diversity in gender, race, ethnicity, and chapter representation, along with varied skills, perspectives, and career experiences (including representatives from the academic community, practitioners working for DMOs, and vendor practitioners) contributes to a balanced and effective organization and conference. We ask that you consider this while crafting your submissions.
If you need additional time for your submission, please reach out to co********@**ra.com by October 24, 2025 with your reason and expected submission date. All questions are also due by that date.
Please send your proposals by November 24, 2025, through the following website: https://ttra.memberclicks.net/2026ACPresentations#/
Key Dates:
- November 24, 2025 – Proposals due.
- January 16, 2026 – Questions/additional session development requests sent to prospective speakers.
- February 6, 2026 – Prospective speakers notified of decisions on proposals.
- March 13, 2026 – All panels and speakers finalized, and dates/times provided for each approved session. All speaker headshots and bios also due, to be collected through the TTRA International Annual Conference website.
- March 31, 2026 – Session promotional materials due, including brief videos created by the panelists.
- June 5, 2026 – All slides, videos, audio, and other presentation materials due to TTRA International.