The meetings and events industry is projected to flourish in 2025, with meeting professionals expressing confidence in its future and noting planned increases in meetings budgets, according to Amex GBT Meetings & Events in newly released 14th Annual ‘Global Meetings and Events Forecast.’

The 2025 forecast points to solid growth ahead, with increasing budgets and a positive outlook from professionals, despite challenges like rising costs and ongoing staffing shortages. In fact, 66% expect their budgets to grow, intending to allocate these funds towards a variety of business priorities.

The forecast surveyed more than 500 meetings and events professionals worldwide, supplemented by insights from more than a dozen industry leaders. While 74% of professionals remain optimistic about the industry’s health, this marks a tempering of the high expectations seen in 2024, signaling a return to more balanced outlooks.

Meeting professionals continue to anticipate that internal meetings will be the most frequent meeting type in 2025 – like they had predicted for 2024. In the forecast, meeting professionals expect that nearly half of internal meetings will be held at a hotel, 34% will be in a different city, and 35% will include social activities for networking.

Additional highlights from the 2025 forecast include:

• Two-thirds see an increase in overall meeting spend
• Businesses are approaching M&E in 2025 strategically and with rich, personalized experiences in mind to make the most out of the time in-person
• Location availability is the No. 1 challenge for planning a meeting in 2025
• 70% of meeting professionals in North America expect their meeting spend to increase in 2025 compared with 72% in 2024.
• 74% are optimistic about the health of the industry
• 50% of meetings planners are embracing the use of AI software and apps
• 54% are incorporating sustainability goals, best practices and tracking across their meetings

“Our forecast highlights a strong and optimistic outlook for the meetings and events industry. In-person meetings continue to dominate with prioritization of attendee engagement, sustainability, and cutting-edge technology like AI to enhance the experience,” said Gerardo Tejado, Sr. VP, Professional Services, Amex GBT. “As sustainability goals advance and AI becomes more integrated, the industry is well-positioned for continued growth and innovation.”

 If you enjoyed or found this story useful, we’d appreciate if you would forward it to a colleague or friend who may also enjoy it. If, on the other hand, a friend shared it with you, welcome! You can get all the latest travel news and reviews from Travel Industry by simply clicking HERE.