Dive Brief:
- Despite geopolitical uncertainty and rising costs, the overwhelming majority (93%) of global meetings and events professionals are optimistic about the health of the sector in 2027, according to Amex GBT’s 2027 Global Meetings and Events Forecast.
- North America meeting professionals are among the most optimistic, with the cohort more likely than their peers in other regions to see their spending increase in 2027. Some 51% say they are “very optimistic” for the year ahead, per the report.
- While optimism is high, it’s “grounded in realism,” Gerardo Tejado Donde, senior vice president of professional services at Amex GBT, said in a statement. Amid mounting geopolitical and economic pressures, meeting professionals “know 2027 will demand sharper risk management and disciplined cost control,” he said, adding planners are “determined that the show must go on and are adopting strategies to do just that,” including those that could impact hotels.
Dive Insight:
In 2027, professionals will focus on three top priorities as they prepare for a more uncertain and expensive world: improving the attendee experience, improving risk management and compliance and reducing costs, according to the report.
For example, some meeting professionals will pivot to finding alternative destinations and venues rather than canceling events altogether, as cost per attendee is expected to rise across every meeting type, the report found.
Some 24% of respondents said they would change their hotel or accommodation to mitigate disruptions from cost hikes. Amex GBT forecasts that global hotel room rates will be more expensive in 2027 “off the back of sustained corporate demand,” per the report.
Cost has become the number-one priority of meeting practitioners when it comes to selecting a venue, the report found. As such, there has been a recent shift from traditional hotels toward alternative spaces such as restaurants, cultural sites and boutique venues “that deliver distinctiveness while fulfilling requirements.”
Meanwhile, in the face of rising costs, 39% of meeting professionals said they would change the destination of a meeting, while 37% said they would host more virtual events.
In North America, where cost and hotel staffing are top concerns, meeting practitioners said they plan to host meetings closer to home and build in longer lead times. The top meeting destinations in the region in 2027 will be Orlando, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York and Dallas, per the report.
Amex GBT’s forecast comes after a recent Global Business Travel Association poll that similarly found global business travel professionals are increasingly optimistic that travel spending, trip volume and revenue will strengthen over the next 12 months despite ongoing challenges.
