The Destination Index — by departure city
The Best Incentive Travel Destinations from Sydney
The IncentiveTrips Destination Index re-ranked for programs departing Sydney (SYD). Fares are city-specific modeled ballparks — the published distance curve priced from SYD — and reachability draws from the Asia-Pacific 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 Sydney.
Standings as of 2026-09-15. Recomputed on live data.
| # | Destination | Country | Fare from SYD | Score | vs global |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bali | Indonesia | $540 | 76.7 | ▲3 |
| 2 | Bangkok | Thailand | $700 | 76.5 | — |
| 3 | Phuket | Thailand | $730 | 75.2 | ▲3 |
| 4 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | $610 | 74.2 | ▲3 |
| 5 | Tokyo | Japan | $920 | 73.8 | ▼2 |
| 6 | Singapore | Singapore | $650 | 73.0 | ▲3 |
| 7 | Da Nang | Vietnam | $730 | 72.8 | ▲28 |
| 8 | Seoul | South Korea | $940 | 72.7 | ▲6 |
| 9 | Kyoto | Japan | $950 | 71.9 | ▲21 |
| 10 | Hoi An (Vietnam) | Vietnam | $720 | 71.6 | ▲31 |
| 11 | Sydney | Australia | $150 | 71.0 | ▲32 |
| 12 | Melbourne | Australia | $240 | 70.7 | ▲34 |
| 13 | Dubrovnik | Croatia | $1,420 | 69.2 | ▼1 |
| 14 | Riviera Maya & Cancún | Mexico | $1,090 | 68.7 | ▼13 |
| 15 | Langkawi | Malaysia | $710 | 68.2 | ▲47 |
| 16 | Athens | Greece | $1,170 | 68.1 | ▼3 |
| 17 | Kotor | Montenegro | $1,490 | 67.6 | ▲17 |
| 18 | Norwegian Fjords (Bergen) | Norway | $1,500 | 67.5 | ▲3 |
| 19 | Queenstown | New Zealand | $440 | 67.5 | ▲50 |
| 20 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | $1,150 | 67.4 | ▲5 |
| 21 | Lisbon | Portugal | $1,310 | 67.3 | ▼16 |
| 22 | Porto | Portugal | $1,420 | 66.6 | ▼5 |
| 23 | Budapest | Hungary | $1,250 | 66.4 | ▲1 |
| 24 | Cairns & Great Barrier Reef | Australia | $430 | 65.9 | ▲53 |
| 25 | Vienna | Austria | $1,320 | 65.6 | ▼2 |
| 26 | Prague | Czechia | $1,270 | 65.5 | ▲1 |
| 27 | Nashville | United States | $1,290 | 65.2 | ▼16 |
| 28 | Cape Town | South Africa | $1,130 | 65.2 | ▲31 |
| 29 | Mexico City | Mexico | $940 | 65.1 | ▼21 |
| 30 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | $1,030 | 65.1 | ▲3 |
| 31 | Punta Cana | Dominican Republic | $1,250 | 65.0 | ▼21 |
| 32 | Barcelona | Spain | $1,270 | 64.9 | ▼12 |
| 33 | Madrid | Spain | $1,340 | 64.8 | ▼14 |
| 34 | Sri Lanka (Galle) | Sri Lanka | $890 | 64.8 | ▲44 |
| 35 | Los Cabos | Mexico | $1,110 | 64.7 | ▼20 |
| 36 | Algarve | Portugal | $1,380 | 64.5 | ▲3 |
| 37 | Scottsdale | United States | $1,000 | 64.3 | ▼19 |
| 38 | Fiji | Fiji | $570 | 64.3 | ▲48 |
| 39 | Lake Bled | Slovenia | $1,500 | 63.9 | ▲16 |
| 40 | Iceland (Reykjavik) | Iceland | $1,340 | 63.6 | ▼9 |
| 41 | Miami | United States | $1,060 | 63.5 | ▼25 |
| 42 | Vancouver | Canada | $980 | 63.5 | ▼20 |
| 43 | Tulum | Mexico | $1,180 | 63.4 | ▼15 |
| 44 | New Orleans | United States | $1,190 | 63.4 | ▼15 |
| 45 | San Diego | United States | $850 | 63.3 | ▼19 |
| 46 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | $1,030 | 63.1 | ▲4 |
| 47 | Dublin | Ireland | $1,220 | 62.8 | ▼10 |
| 48 | Maui | United States | $840 | 62.8 | ▼3 |
| 49 | Costa Rica (Guanacaste) | Costa Rica | $1,210 | 62.7 | ▼17 |
| 50 | Tirana (Albania) | Albania | $1,390 | 62.4 | ▲10 |
Fares are modeled round-trip ballparks from Sydney (SYD), 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 SYD
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
By region: US East · US Central · US West · Europe · Latin America · Asia-Pacific · Middle East & Africa
More from Asia-Pacific: Singapore · Hong Kong · Tokyo · Seoul · Shanghai · Melbourne · Mumbai · Delhi · Bangkok
All cities: London · Paris · Frankfurt · Amsterdam · Madrid · Milan · Zurich · Stockholm · Dublin · New York · Boston · Miami · Atlanta · Toronto · Chicago · Dallas · Denver · Los Angeles · San Francisco · Seattle · Mexico City · São Paulo · Buenos Aires · Dubai · Riyadh · Doha · Tel Aviv · Johannesburg