Nexion Travel Group hosted its annual CoNexion event in Austin from Sept. 2-4, bringing together more than 600 travel advisors, supplier partners and industry leaders for several days of education, networking and business development.
Across general sessions, NexTalk presentations and conversations with advisors and Nexion leadership, several themes emerged at the gathering, including how travelers are spending, how their expectations are changing and what advisors should be paying attention to as they grow their businesses.
Here’s what stood out at CoNexion 2026.
1. Travelers Continue to Prioritize Getting Away
Travelers are continuing to make room for vacations, according to Jackie Friedman, president of Nexion. The leader reported that upper-premium and luxury travel is performing more strongly than the more mainstream, contemporary segment. Travelers with more disposable income are increasingly motivated to spend it on travel, but the shift is not limited to affluent clients. More budget-conscious travelers are also prioritizing trips, contributing to an increase in close-in bookings.
“They’re realizing how important travel is,” Friedman said, noting that some clients who may have delayed taking a vacation are eventually deciding that they need to get away.
Debbie Newton, a travel advisor and Nexion’s 2026 Rising Star award recipient, has noticed this shift among her clients.
“People today are realizing life is short,” Newton said. “They’re taking the trips more.”
Luxury travelers are also raising their expectations.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner and advisor Sandy Clark of Sandy Clark Travel said her upper-premium and luxury clients are becoming more demanding about their in-destination experiences.
“They want better guides. They want better excursions. They want to get the most out of the destination while they’re there,” Clark said. “They’re not going to settle anymore for just so-so excursions or so-so guides.”
Clark said these travelers are increasingly looking for unique destinations and experiences they can’t easily replicate, while also planning bucket-list vacations further in advance, including one client already working on travel for 2028.
2. Travelers Want More Personalization
“Having choice and flexibility is the new luxury,” Friedman said.
That can mean visiting destinations during less crowded times of year, going beyond the must-see attractions or adding customized components before and after a cruise. Nexion reported that these facets have led to growth in FIT travel, alongside strong river and expedition cruise sales.
Advisors also do not necessarily have to build complicated FIT itineraries alone. Friedman encouraged attendees to make use of preferred partners, which she described as a “travel advisor’s travel advisor,” bringing additional destination expertise into the planning process.
Travel advisors had the opportunity to attend educational workshops for business development.
2026 Nexion Travel Group3. Cruising Continues to Offer Opportunity for Advisors
Cruise was another recurring topic throughout the event. Nexion reported stronger percentage growth in upper-premium and luxury cruising, while the short-cruise market is performing better than it did the previous year. River cruising is also performing strongly.
Clark of Sandy Clark Travel pointed to cruise as a significant opportunity for advisors. Although FIT makes up a large part of her own business, she said cruise can be an especially good place for newer advisors to begin because of the size of the category and the structures and tools available to help them learn it.
Similarly, Newton began her business with a heavy focus on cruise before expanding into rail and land tours, and she said conversations with suppliers at CoNexion over the years continued to expose her to new cruise products, including the continued expansion of river cruise options.
4. Groups and Solo Travel Are Growing at the Same Time
Two opposite exploration styles — group travel and solo travel — are creating more opportunities for advisors, too.
According to Friedman, “Groups are exploding.” Beyond the revenue earned from one group booking, group travel can become a long-term business development tool, she said. If advisors execute the trip well, travelers may want to join another group departure, while new clients introduced to the advisor through the group may later return to book individual vacations.
At the same time, Friedman said solo travel is a “huge trend.” River cruises appear to be particularly popular among solo travelers, while many ocean cruise lines are introducing inventory and programming to make it easier for guests traveling alone to meet others onboard.
5. AI Can Benefit Advisors, But Not Replace Them
AI was one of the most frequently discussed topics at CoNexion, reflecting the broader conversation taking place across the industry. Friedman said technology can reduce the amount of time advisors spend on manual behind-the-scenes work, such as accounting and itinerary preparation, allowing them to spend more time on the parts of the job that add the most value: interacting with clients, building relationships and crafting trips.
AI can speed up some of the more creative work, as well. Friedman said she has seen advisors use it to build social media plans, produce newsletters, create presentations and identify potential partners for future group business.
Advisors and suppliers were able to connect during the trade show.
2026 Nexion Travel GroupHer advice to advisors is to learn how to make AI work for them rather than fear it. Instead, advisors should consider how it can make them more effective and leave more time for person-to-person relationships.
“AI isn’t going to take your job away,” Friedman said. “It’s the advisor who embraces AI that could take your job away.”
And, the human role travel advisors play could become even more important as travelers encounter an increasing amount of information online, which leads to another common theme recognized by advisors during the event: information overload. Clark said clients frequently bring her information generated by AI that she then has to verify, and that inaccuracies range from incorrect hotel details to outdated information. Ultimately, this gives her more work.
“We create journeys that you can't just find online,” Clark said.
Newton echoed Clark’s point, emphasizing that AI still requires an advisor’s judgment and knowledge of the traveler.
AI isn’t going to take your job away. It’s the advisor who embraces AI that could take your job away.
“You have to be able to look at what AI does and you know your clients,” Newton said. “AI does not [know your clients].”
Information overload can affect advisors, too. Newton said newer advisors can become overwhelmed by the amount they have to learn and feel as though they need to have every answer before moving forward. Her advice is to start small, focus on the areas they know or want to specialize in and expand from there.
6. Advisors Should Build Their Businesses Around Who They Are
Advisor-client relationships also emerged as a broader theme throughout CoNexion, particularly when speakers discussed marketing and long-term business growth.
During a NexTalk focused on social media, Doree Kovalio of Yolo Let’s Go! Travel Agency said beautiful destination content alone is not enough to differentiate an advisor. Potential clients can find endless images of hotels, beaches and destinations online — what they cannot replicate is an advisor’s individual perspective.
“People don’t hire me because I’ve been to France or Italy or Japan,” Kovalio said. “They hire me because they feel like they’ve been there with me.”
She encouraged advisors to show their faces, personalities, expertise and client results rather than waiting until they are perfectly comfortable with social media.
“Travel is our product, but you are the brand,” she said.
That message was echoed in another NexTalk from advisor Asia Lantz of Travel With Asia, who recommended that attendees build a brand around their own personality and expertise, talk about the type of travel they want to book and establish relationships before they need them. Lantz shared that this approach helped her generate repeat clients, referrals and an engaged community for hosted group trips.
“The moment that you don’t have to be in the room anymore is the moment you know that your personal brand is working,” Lantz said.
CoNexion also marked a transitional moment for Nexion, with Friedman announcing during the event that she plans to retire in spring 2027. As she reflected on 42 years in the travel industry, Friedman shared several lessons for building a successful business, including thinking like a business owner, investing in relationships, knowing your best clients, continuing to learn and embracing change.
“Sometimes the best way to find the next client is to take care of the clients you already have,” Friedman said.
