The four-day event in Puerto Rico brought together more than 270 senior incentive travel leaders, combining education, destination discovery and fundraising for the SITE Foundation.
But while the event is over, its legacy continues.
SITE Classic 2026 raised USD $276,000 (£203,000) for the SITE Foundation through its live and silent auctions, with the funds set to support scholarships, research, professional development, chapter grants and relief programmes across the incentive travel industry.
The four-day event, which concluded at El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico, brought together more than 270 senior incentive travel leaders under the theme ‘From Many Shores to One Rhythm’.
For event planners, the programme offered a blueprint for combining business objectives with destination immersion and longer-term industry impact. Education and peer-led dialogue sat alongside cultural storytelling, local expertise and destination discovery, with Puerto Rico’s culture, gastronomy, natural beauty and hospitality woven into the event experience.
The programme reflected SITE’s pillars of connect, learn, discover and shape.
SITE President Hasan Dinc said: “Puerto Rico gave us a powerful setting for SITE Classic: culturally rich, welcoming and full of energy. More than 270 leaders came together to build relationships, exchange ideas and experience what makes the island such a compelling incentive destination. Just as importantly, the funds raised here will continue working long after the event ends, supporting the people, knowledge and opportunities that move our industry forward.”
That longer-term impact was put under the spotlight during the event with the launch of the SITE Foundation’s second annual Impact Report.
The report reveals that the Foundation has invested more than USD $10 million in incentive travel professionals and the industry since 1987, including more than USD $2.5 million between 2016 and 2026.
Since 2016, more than 130 projects and initiatives have been funded, with over 20,000 people directly or indirectly impacted.
In 2026 alone, the Foundation offered nine SITE Global Conference Scholarships, each worth up to USD $6,000, while more than 40 SITE chapters have been supported through grants and fundraising activity.
The Foundation says the report is intended to make the connection between fundraising and its impact more visible, with investment supporting people at different stages of their careers as well as the wider evidence base for incentive travel.
Jonathan Richards, President of the SITE Foundation, said: “This report makes the connection between fundraising and impact visible. A donation becomes a scholarship, a research project, help for a chapter or a lifeline for a member; behind each of those is a person whose confidence, career or contribution to our industry grows as a result. The $276,000 raised at this year’s SITE Classic is therefore not an end result. It is an investment in people, and those people strengthen our industry and shape its future.”
At the event, Mexico’s Riviera Maya was announced as the host destination for SITE Classic 2027, taking place from 30 August to 2 September.
