Emerald’s $134 million acquisition of experiential luxury travel company This Is Beyond expands Emerald’s presence in high-end luxury travel events.
According to Serge Dive, founder and CEO of This Is Beyond, ultra-high-net-worth travelers are placing greater value on privacy, wellness, and cultural depth, moving away from traditional markers of luxury such as scale, visibility, and brand recognition.
“Trips are no longer about ticking boxes,” Dive said. “They’re about immersion and connection.”
Dive describes today’s high-end travel as more “unfiltered” and “raw.”
He sees that shift influencing the design of high-end group programs. Small-scale property buyouts, slower-paced itineraries, wellness-led experiences, and deeper engagement with local culture are increasingly replacing large resorts and tightly scheduled agendas that once defined luxury incentives.
“Highly produced, overly polished experiences are out,” he said. “What’s in are experiences and hotels that are critically acclaimed by a few but not widely recognized commercially.”
In an AI-driven world, he added, perfection itself has lost its advantage.
“Being perfect in everything you do doesn’t give you a competitive edge anymore,” Dive said. “You have to embrace humanity, the imperfections. Give people presence.”
Incentives Give Way to the “Thank You Economy”
Dive is candid about his discomfort with the word “incentive,” which he believes reduces experiences to transactional rewards.
“It commoditizes what we do,” he said. “I prefer to call it the thank you economy. You’re thanking your staff or your distribution partners with an experience that transforms them as individuals, but they return as a community.”
That framing reflects a broader shift among planners of top-tier programs, who are increasingly asked to justify incentive travel not just as motivation but also as a tool for retention, loyalty, and culture-building. At this level, incentive travel is less about the reward itself and more about the shared experience it creates.
Curated — But Not Overproduced
This Is Beyond operates a portfolio of B2B luxury travel events, including PURE Life Experiences, LE/Miami, We Are Africa, Further East, and Do Not Disturb. These are intentionally small, invitation-only marketplaces designed to foster long-term relationships between buyers and suppliers.
Emerald plans to expand the This Is Beyond portfolio using its operational infrastructure, while maintaining the scale and format that existing participants value. Dive emphasized that growth will not come at the expense of intimacy or curation.
“This Is Beyond stood out immediately as a category-defining platform in luxury travel, built by a visionary founder and curated around experiences and deep relationships that drive business outcomes. It aligns with Emerald’s strategy to expand into high-growth markets by scaling distinctive brands that deliver exceptional value through in-person experiences,” said Hervé Sedky, president and CEO of Emerald.
For planners working in ultra-luxury incentives, the takeaway is that experiences that allow participants to slow down, spend meaningful time together, and engage authentically with place and culture resonate.
“The best incentive programs are relational, not transactional,” Dive said. “The group experience itself has to create shared meaning.”
