How does one celebrate the 10-year anniversary of an event focused on the experiences sector of travel?
With experiences, of course. We’ve got some incredible experiential sessions lined up for the first day of the conference, to get you out of the conference center — and into the forests, parks and rivers around Spokane, with guided discussions in the great outdoors.
Once we’re all charged up with that fresh PNW (Pacific Northwest) air, we’re going to get into some fresh ideas and fresh content for the next three days of the conference. Things are changing fast in the travel experiences space right now, so as our team puts together the program for Arival 360 | Spokane, we’ve identified six key content pillars to focus on for the maximum impact to tour, activity and attraction operators in 2026 — more on that below.
Finally, of course, we’re going to have a big freaking party! Whether you’re new to Arival or you’ve been with us since the beginning, we hope you’ll join us for a very special 10 year celebration party on the final night.
Here are some highlights from what we’ve got planned for Spokane.
Note on the Spokane fires: The devastating fires that started 1 August have been contained, and thankfully no lives were lost. We visited personally to get a sense of the situation and to better understand how we can help. While recovery will take time, downtown is open, and Visit Spokane is encouraging visitors. The most useful thing our industry can do for Spokane right now is show up and contribute to their economy’s recovery.
They and we thank you for your support. We’ll see you in Spokane.
12-15 Oct 2026 Insider Pro Access Members Save 20% THE event of the year for creators and sellers of destination experiences to connect, learn & grow. It’s Your Last Call to Save! Get Your Ticket Today!
Experiential Sessions: From the Conference Center to the Great Outdoors
We’re kicking off day one of Arival Spokane by getting out into the great outdoors. The beautiful, natural setting of Spokane is, after all, the main reason we chose this location in the first place!
Attendees will have the option to sign up for one of six experiential learning sessions, hosted by local operators, each of which include a guided discussion on a relevant topic. It’s hands-on learning at its best! Here are the sessions we’ve confirmed so far:
- Take a hike through Waikiki Springs with Wander Spokane, and discuss how thoughtful storytelling and interpretation can transform familiar places into unforgettable experiences.
- Ride the rapids of the Spokane River with Wiley E. Waters and discuss how the rhythm of an experience influences what guests remember.
- Take an interactive walking tour of downtown Spokane with Imagine Tours NW, and explore practical marketing strategies to better position your experiences for diverse traveler segments.
- Bike the trails around Spokane with The Adventure Hub while uncovering practical insights into adapting to challenges along the way.
- Head to the riverfront for a series of team-building challenges with Peak 7 Adventures and explore how to intentionally create experiences that foster deeper connections, inspire growth, and stay with guests long after the experience ends.
- Taste your way around the riverfront with Wander Spokane and Wanderlust Delicato while discussing the different ingredients of experience design over locally sourced wines and cheeses.
These sessions are exclusive to Arival attendees and designed specifically for operators, and come with an add-on fee of $100 per session to support the operators facilitating the experiences. A portion of each fee will also go to a charity of the hosting operator’s choice, in order to help support Spokane’s recovery.
Executive Summit: Shaping the Future of Experiences
While operators are out and about in Spokane, senior leaders from day and multi-day operators, online travel agencies (OTAs), tech companies, investors, innovators and more will be gathering at the third Arival Executive Summit for an exclusive, full-day innovation forum focused on the future of travel experiences.
The Executive Summit will feature on-stage discussions with a curated group of our industry’s most respected thought leaders on some of the top challenges, ideas and questions facing the industry today, followed by roundtable discussions, where each table of 8–10 participants takes on the same questions.
Pillar Content: What Matters Most in 2026
A huge part of every Arival event is, of course, the main stage and breakout session program. This year we’re bringing together a huge cast of over 40 speakers, leaders with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences that can speak to everything from working with OTAs to adapting to AI search in marketing to designing meaningful experiences and beyond.
Here’s an overview of the six content pillars we’ll be focusing on in Spokane:
1. Distribution Strategy
Social media and AI are the industry’s fastest-growing discovery channels, but both still tend to lead travelers back to OTAs. Working with OTAs and other distribution channels, how to make those partnerships work best for you, and how to succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace, will be a key focus of both theater and breakout sessions in Spokane.
2. Social Commerce
Things have come a long way since we first started talking about vertical videos from the Arival stage four years ago. The new top of the funnel is now becoming transactional, as social media evolves from a channel for discovery to a booking channel in its own right — and TikTok will be on the scene offering insights into TikTok Go, which makes experiences directly bookable through the social video app.
3. Meaningful Travel
Meaningful, memorable, intentional, impactful, immersive, experiential, regenerative, sustainable, transformational, unforgettable; the list goes on. Our industry has never had more words for the same idea: travelers want more than photo-ops, they want their trips to mean something. But which terms actually move a customer to book, and which are largely internal marketing language? We’ll explore what actually makes a difference to travelers at the time of booking and how to build that into the experience itself, not just the marketing around it.
4. AI
AI is reshaping how travelers search, plan, and book, and how operators automate the work behind the scenes. In Spokane, our AI-related content will be anchored by the fourth installment of Arival’s recurring Great AI Debate, which pits direct booking advocates against third-party distribution proponents. We’ll also be reprising our ever-popular AI Labs rotating-table format for hands-on learning led by a selection of AI experts.
5. Multi-Day Tours
Multi-day operators are showing up in force in Spokane this year, as we build on the past three Arival events’ multi-day programming with real depth on the trend toward smaller groups, the technology decisions that come with it, and the trade relationships that make it work. This pillar will feature a keynote from Intrepid Travel’s President of North America, Leigh Barnes, as well as a panel of executives from other leading multi-day tour operators, and a series of breakout sessions focused on tech, distribution, connectivity, and marketing for the multi-day tour sector.
6. Culinary Experiences
Culinary is one of the fastest-growing segments in experiences, and this pillar is built specifically for the operators running food tours, along with wine, beer, and spirits experiences. Culinary sessions are peer-to-peer sessions led by and for culinary operators, and are designed to surface real, tested strategies from operators already succeeding in this space, alongside the chance to connect with a growing community built around this segment.
12-15 Oct 2026 Insider Pro Access Members Save 20% THE event of the year for creators and sellers of destination experiences to connect, learn & grow. It’s Your Last Call to Save! Get Your Ticket Today!
Ignite Talks: Fast-Paced Fresh Ideas from Innovative Operators
We’re always trying new things at Arival, and this year we’re adding a new format to the mix: Arival Ignite Talks! This is an opportunity to learn and find inspiration from operators sharing fresh ideas in a fast-paced format.
The theme for this year is transformation. Five operators will share five very different takes on transformation: how they’ve changed their businesses, themselves and the experiences they create. From turning a seasonal rafting company into a year-round operation, to shifting from operator to investor, to challenging whether we should be selling “transformation” at all, Arival Ignite brings real operator stories and big ideas to the main stage.
Five minutes, 20 slides, no fluff. Expect hard-earned lessons, fresh perspectives and ideas that might change how you think about your own business.
The Red Carpet: Arival Spotlight Awards
It wouldn’t be a celebration without a proper award ceremony! This year, we’ll be celebrating the winners of the Arival Spotlight Awards in a special ceremony on the second to last day of the event, 14 September 2026. Want a chance at having your moment in the spotlight? Award nominations and applications are still open until 11 September 2026. Learn more and apply for an award here.
The Big Bash: 10 Years of Arival
Finally, on the last day of the event we’ll close off by celebrating the Arival community with a 10 Years of Arival party. Arival has come a long way since it started in October of 2017, bringing together small tour and activity operators were in the same room as large attractions, leading OTAs and tech companies.
“What happened at that event was an industry was born. Everyone loved it because, instead of being part of a large trade show, everyone was surrounded by their own community.”
Arival co-founder and CCO Bruce Rosard, on the first Arival event in 2017.
“Fast forward 10 years and here we are, we have a community of over 50,000 people, we’re doing events in the U.S. and in Europe and in Australia. Arival Spokane is a celebration of 10 years since the first event.”
It’s a great reminder that, beyond the programming and the networking and the various events-within-the-event, Arival is about the community. Whether you’ve been with Arival since the beginning, or you’re newer on the scene, we hope you’ll join us to celebrate 10 years of this incredible, passionate, creative and innovative community working in what we love to call the Best Part of Travel!
