Meetings and events in 2026: resilient demand, tighter budgets

Confidence remains surprisingly strong

Amex GBT's 2026 Global Meetings & Events Forecast found 85% of meeting professionals were optimistic about the sector, the highest level in five years. Budgets were generally expected to rise, but the same research identified cost as the leading challenge and warned that budget growth may not keep pace with prices.

That combination matters. Organisations still want people together, but they are more selective about what an event needs to achieve.

The UK market is economically significant

Conference News reported analysis from Booking.com for Business putting direct expenditure associated with UK business events at £19.3 billion, with more than one million conferences and meetings hosted annually. International delegates are especially valuable because their average spend is materially higher than domestic attendees.

More scrutiny means fewer excuses for friction

BCD Meetings & Events' 2026 UK outlook expects buyers to remain highly budget conscious as labour, utilities, food and beverage and other supplier costs rise. It also anticipates stronger demand for secondary UK cities, more regional sourcing and a preference for high-impact formats where the value can be justified.

For venues, that makes the website part of the commercial argument. Planners comparing several options need to understand capacity, layouts, location and suitability quickly. The venue that forces the buyer through a maze of disconnected PDFs creates work at exactly the point buyers are trying to reduce it.

Experience and efficiency are not opposites

There is a temptation to treat “experience” as production spend and “efficiency” as cost-cutting. In practice, good digital tools can support both. They can shorten the discovery process while giving the planner a richer understanding of the venue.

Amex GBT also identifies engaging attendee experiences and digital tools as major priorities. That makes sense: once organisations decide an in-person event is worth funding, the bar for that event is higher.

What should venues do?

• Make room and capacity information easy to search.
• Show spatial relationships, not just isolated room photographs.
• Support mobile research as seriously as desktop.
• Give prospects enough detail to qualify themselves.
• Make enquiry the natural next step, not a separate hunt for a contact form.

The outlook is positive, but competition for well-qualified event business remains real. A venue website that can explain the product clearly is part of the sales infrastructure, not just the marketing wrapper.