Amex GBT taps into trends in 14th Annual Meetings and Events forecast

In its annual Global Meetings and Events forecast, American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) is forecasting that the meetings and events industry will ‘flourish’ in 2025.

The travel management company (TMC) surveyed over 500 people working in the M&E sector around the world and found that budgets are on the rise for two-thirds of those respondents.

As well, there’s also a high level of optimism heading into 2025, with 74% of meetings professionals feeling optimistic about the industry’s health, despite challenges like rising costs and ongoing staffing shortages.

The study reports that internal meetings are expected to be the most frequent meeting type in 2025. Professionals predict that half will be held at a hotel, 34% will be in a different city, and 35% will include social activities for networking.

Technology, sustainability and engagement are the key trends reshaping the meeting and events industry.

Gerardo Tejado, Senior Vice President, Professional Services, Amex GBT, observed that: “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.”

When asked what technology they plan to use in 2025, half of those surveyed answered Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI will be used for tasks such as attendee matchmaking (42%), content creation (41%), theme development (40%) and tracking attendee engagement (39%).

Additional insights from the report include:

• The top five meetings and events destinations in North America for 2025 are New York, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas and Dallas.
• Location availability is the number one challenge for planning a meeting in 2025, with high costs, budget cuts and hotel staffing levels among other top concerns for planners.
• The top three elements cited that contribute to a memorable meeting experience are content (38%), venue (27%), and destination (25%).
• 54% of meeting planners are incorporating sustainability goals, best practices and tracking across their meetings.
• A significant majority (86%) of meeting professionals have already implemented diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices or plan to do so in 2025.

To see the full forecast, CLICK HERE.