Paul Coulson despairs at cuts to the business events team within VisitBritain whilst the sector is attracting major investment and widespread recognition of its utility as a driver of economic and societal value. It’s time for joined-up thinking by policymakers that respects the essential role business events marketing plays at a national level. From CMW…
Global Destinations Sustainability Movement (GDS-Movement) revealed the winners of Innovation, Impact, and new Changemaker Awards, recognising leading destinations driving positive transformation across the tourism and events sectors, during the GDS-Awards Ceremony, held as part of the GDS-Forum and Impact Day in Szczecin, Poland.
Held alongside the 2026 European Congress on Gynaecological Oncology, the ESGO Legacy event convened leading experts, policymakers, patient advocates and industry representatives in Copenhagen to advance sustainable improvements in women’s cancer care. “Imagine a Europe where your address no longer determines your survival,” outgoing ESGO Vice-President Associate Professor Maja Pakiz said as she opened the…
Developed by USTA’s Group Travel Network, MMTM is a unified industry platform and resource kit aimed at shaping how business executives understand when and why meeting in person is worthwhile. These resources are designed to be adapted and distributed to marketing and sales teams to incorporate into client campaigns, sales conversations and content channels.
#MEET4IMPACT is challenging destinations to rethink their role in the business events ecosystem, arguing that DMOs must move beyond promotion and become active facilitators of long-term social impact. In a conversation with their Consultant Made Raie, the organisation highlights the growing importance of legacy, community engagement and impact measurement for positive change. From HQ Magazine…
The Paris je t’aime Convention Bureau and Choose Paris Region recently jointly launched the Guichet Unique Grands Événements, a one-stop portal for major events. One team, one contact, one voice for events of 500 participants or more – across association congresses, corporate events and agency-led programmes.
On 29 May 2026, ECA, UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and MAD Event Management hosted the inaugural Global Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. This invitation-only forum brought together leaders from across the global business and professional events industry for a focused dialogue on key cross-border policy issues shaping the industry’s future.
In this episode of The Meeting Room, host James Lancaster sits down with Dr Mike Duignan, founder of the Centre for Events & Festivals (CEF), to unpack the BIG problems nobody is talking about enough, from fragmented advocacy and missing economic data to why festivals, sports events and business events must stop operating in silos.
As the events industry pushes for greater inclusivity, new parents, especially mothers, are asking why so many events still turn them away at the door. For many parents, particularly those with infants who are breastfeeding or not yet in childcare, the inability to bring a child means skipping the events entirely. From Skift…
The Events Industry Council (EIC), in collaboration with the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), today announced the next phase of its targeted refinement of the Sustainable Event Standards (SES), marking a significant step forward in strengthening alignment, usability and real-world application across the global business events sustainability landscape.
The latest edition of IMEX’s European show offered participants a glimpse of the state of the global events industry. Compared to last year, the geopolitical uncertainty was more obvious and no more resolved, but somehow the events world appears to have become used to this level of stress, on both buyer and supplier sides.
226 business and professional events industry leaders and advocates travelled to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as part of the ECA’s annual Legislative Action Day to meet with members of Congress with a unified message: our industry is a proven engine of economic resilience and growth, that requires a policy environment to match.
The Sustainable Event Goals are 13 interlinked goals designed to minimise negative environmental and social impacts while maximising positive economic outcomes, and translating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into clear, actionable, event-specific guidance for organisers, suppliers, destinations, and partners across the global Business Events ecosystem. From Kenes Group…
The Policy Forum examines the current economic and political climate and reviews the latest policy developments affecting the events sector. In 2025, it attracted 300 senior leaders from destinations, venues, exhibition organisers, event agencies, associations and trade bodies. Attendees are joined by MPs who serve on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events, plus Ministers, officials…
Kai Hattendorf synthesises the views of a panel of global Business Events leaders who shared their perspectives during IMEX on resilience preparedness, leadership transitions, non-linear backgrounds as an asset, the necessity of better impact metrics, and “trust” as the industry’s USP in the AI era.
This article from the Centre for Events and Festivals analyses and summarises a new research report on long-term event impact from the University of Technology Sydney Business School, which shows governments are vastly underselling their investment in attracting conferences, justifying it purely with tourism data such as delegate hotel spend.
The 2026 edition of IMEX Frankfurt closed today, confirming its biggest show floor to date, combined with strong buyer and exhibitor numbers. The show (May 19-21) saw almost 3,000 exhibiting companies, from destinations and venues to tech providers and event agencies, all representing the breadth of a future-focused global industry.
Destination Canada’s research provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of how events create lasting economic, social and environmental impact. In collaboration with #MEET4IMPACT and GainingEdge, thousands of data points were analyzed from 15 global events hosted across Canada in key sectors. The findings are clear: impact is not accidental — it is engineered.
Destination Canada’s three-year Legacy & Impact Study highlights the long-term economic, social and environmental benefits of major events hosted in Canada. This case study examines how the 11th International Conference on Isotopes (ICI) leveraged Saskatoon’s nuclear expertise to respond to instability in global isotope supply, vital to healthcare and food security worldwide. The…
Meetings Capitalized is a fresh approach shaped by research and focus groups, which identifies experiential design as a defining priority for meeting planners. DDC’s updated approach makes it easy for planners to lead with experiences and outcomes, with Washington, DC’s institutions and offerings becoming integral to the meeting experience itself. From Exhibitor…
Global conflict, policy change and socio-political instability are having a growing and measurable impact on the international meetings and conferences industry. The findings reveal a significant shift in the operating environment for international meetings. 73.84% of respondents said global conflicts have impacted their ability to plan or host international meetings, up from 53.92% in 2025.
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