The Destination Index — by departure city
The Best Incentive Travel Destinations from San Francisco
The IncentiveTrips Destination Index re-ranked for programs departing San Francisco (SFO). Fares are city-specific modeled ballparks — the published distance curve priced from SFO — and reachability draws from the US West row; the four origin-independent pillars — momentum, safety, infrastructure, and planner fit — are unchanged. The global Index remains the canonical ranking; this is the same math, priced from San Francisco.
Standings as of 2026-09-15. Recomputed on live data.
| # | Destination | Country | Fare from SFO | Score | vs global |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riviera Maya & Cancún | Mexico | $470 | 75.0 | — |
| 2 | Bangkok | Thailand | $1,000 | 72.7 | — |
| 3 | Los Cabos | Mexico | $370 | 72.4 | ▲12 |
| 4 | Scottsdale | United States | $240 | 72.4 | ▲14 |
| 5 | Bali | Indonesia | $1,080 | 72.3 | ▼1 |
| 6 | Mexico City | Mexico | $380 | 72.1 | ▲2 |
| 7 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | $1,050 | 71.7 | ▲18 |
| 8 | San Diego | United States | $180 | 71.7 | ▲18 |
| 9 | Vancouver | Canada | $260 | 71.6 | ▲13 |
| 10 | Phuket | Thailand | $1,100 | 71.2 | ▼4 |
| 11 | Tokyo | Japan | $950 | 70.7 | ▼8 |
| 12 | Punta Cana | Dominican Republic | $630 | 70.7 | ▼2 |
| 13 | Nashville | United States | $480 | 70.7 | ▼2 |
| 14 | Dubrovnik | Croatia | $1,060 | 70.4 | ▼2 |
| 15 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | $990 | 70.1 | ▼8 |
| 16 | Tulum | Mexico | $510 | 69.8 | ▲12 |
| 17 | Seoul | South Korea | $990 | 69.6 | ▼3 |
| 18 | Norwegian Fjords (Bergen) | Norway | $940 | 69.6 | ▲3 |
| 19 | Lisbon | Portugal | $820 | 69.5 | ▼14 |
| 20 | New Orleans | United States | $450 | 69.5 | ▲9 |
| 21 | Costa Rica (Guanacaste) | Costa Rica | $610 | 69.2 | ▲11 |
| 22 | Miami | United States | $460 | 69.1 | ▼6 |
| 23 | Da Nang | Vietnam | $1,020 | 69.1 | ▲12 |
| 24 | Athens | Greece | $930 | 69.0 | ▼11 |
| 25 | Singapore | Singapore | $1,070 | 68.9 | ▼16 |
| 26 | Porto | Portugal | $880 | 68.8 | ▼9 |
| 27 | Kyoto | Japan | $1,010 | 68.8 | ▲3 |
| 28 | Kotor | Montenegro | $1,110 | 68.8 | ▲6 |
| 29 | Colorado Rockies (USA) | United States | $320 | 68.3 | ▲20 |
| 30 | Banff | Canada | $350 | 68.3 | ▲24 |
| 31 | Hoi An (Vietnam) | Vietnam | $1,020 | 68.2 | ▲10 |
| 32 | Maui | United States | $520 | 68.1 | ▲13 |
| 33 | Napa Valley | United States | $120 | 68.0 | ▲25 |
| 34 | Budapest | Hungary | $910 | 67.7 | ▼10 |
| 35 | Vienna | Austria | $940 | 67.1 | ▼12 |
| 36 | Prague | Czechia | $880 | 67.1 | ▼9 |
| 37 | Madrid | Spain | $870 | 66.9 | ▼18 |
| 38 | Barcelona | Spain | $860 | 66.7 | ▼18 |
| 39 | Algarve | Portugal | $880 | 66.7 | — |
| 40 | Jamaica (Montego Bay) | Jamaica | $560 | 66.6 | ▲4 |
| 41 | Charleston | United States | $570 | 66.1 | ▲6 |
| 42 | Iceland (Reykjavik) | Iceland | $740 | 65.9 | ▼11 |
| 43 | Panama City | Panama | $580 | 65.8 | ▲9 |
| 44 | Sydney | Australia | $1,200 | 65.7 | ▼1 |
| 45 | Sedona | United States | $240 | 65.7 | ▲20 |
| 46 | Melbourne | Australia | $1,210 | 65.6 | — |
| 47 | Lake Bled | Slovenia | $1,060 | 65.4 | ▲8 |
| 48 | Dublin | Ireland | $740 | 65.1 | ▼11 |
| 49 | Punta Mita | Mexico | $420 | 64.6 | ▲15 |
| 50 | Langkawi | Malaysia | $1,090 | 64.1 | ▲12 |
Fares are modeled round-trip ballparks from San Francisco (SFO), not live quotes. “vs global” is each destination's move against its position on the global Destination Index.
How this ranking works
Only the two pillars that genuinely depend on where attendees fly from are re-scored. Value shifts with the fare difference between the US-blend baseline and this origin; air access blends each destination's global nonstop coverage with a published origin-to-region reachability score. Both adjustments flow into the composite at the Index's published pillar weights — value 15%, air access 20%.
- value_o = value + 20 · (fare_US − fare_origin) / max(fare_US, 300), capped ±20
- air_o = 0.5 · air_access + 0.5 · reach(origin → region)
- total_o = total + 0.15 · Δvalue + 0.20 · Δair
- fare = $118 + 0.913 · d^0.75, anchored per destination
- city fares: fare = ($118 + 0.9127 · d^0.75) × destination anchor, d = great-circle km from SFO
Fares come from a distance-based model anchored to each destination — modeled ballparks, not live quotes. Every input is published; no destination pays to be ranked. The global Destination Index is the canonical standing.
Also ranked from
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