AUSTIN, Texas—Cendyn and ConferenceDirect introduced the outcomes of their annual report, 2025 State of the Conferences Business. The collaboration, paired with Knowland by Cendyn knowledge, supplied insights to assist business professionals perceive what assembly planners and occasion managers count on and can prioritize in 2025. The collaboration helps business professionals perceive what assembly planners and occasion managers count on and can prioritize in 2025.
Previously yr, the panorama of conferences has been evolving in sudden methods. Smaller conferences dominated in 2024, however 2025 is ushering in a resurgence of medium and bigger gatherings, signaling a comeback for bigger occasions. On the identical time, planners have needed to adapt shortly, with nearly half of bookings made for occasions occurring inside the identical yr. However a shift is underway—extra organizations are trying forward, with a rising variety of conferences being scheduled three to 5 years upfront. Different highlights embody:
- Medium and large-sized conferences strike a steadiness: Conferences with 100 to 250 attendees represented 35.8 p.c of all bookings in the USA, whereas occasions with over 500 attendees accounted for 32.4 p.c. In the course of the yr, 49.4 p.c of bookings had been made within the yr for the yr. Nevertheless, reserving home windows are lengthening as 9.5 p.c of conferences booked had been three to 5 years upfront. This pattern reveals an equalizing shift between smaller and bigger occasions, emphasizing the necessity for hoteliers to enhance providers and facilities tailor-made to numerous group sizes. By specializing in each medium-sized conferences (100 to 250 attendees) and bigger ones (over 500 attendees), hoteliers can benefit from this balanced market.
- Rising prices proceed to be a high space of dissatisfaction: Planners are dissatisfied with rising prices, which has strained budgets and affected the standard of occasions. Price-cutting measures, corresponding to shorter conferences, various locations, and lowered actions or meals and beverage choices, should be managed successfully to keep away from compromising the attendee expertise.
- Secondary markets have gotten extra favorable: Corporations could contemplate altering locations and venues to handle assembly prices. Teams usually tend to relocate occasions to secondary markets to take care of occasion high quality and/or standing and keep away from transferring down in chain scale. This shift presents alternatives for secondary and tertiary markets to draw new enterprise by providing high quality merchandise, providers, and enticing pricing alternate options in contrast with the highest 25 market locations.
- Audio-visual assist and F&B are most well-liked RFP add-ons: Planners search proposals that clearly outline technological capabilities and catering choices regardless of costs trending upward. Sixty p.c of planners report superior AV assist as a high precedence with 33 p.c indicating that technology-enabled occasions are high of thoughts. Greater than 53 p.c of respondents favor that catering in RFP responses emphasize performance and hospitality.
“It’s an thrilling time to be part of the conferences and occasion business. The outlook for 2025 is optimistic, with greater than 40 p.c of assembly planners anticipating bookings to extend and 65 p.c anticipating greater attendance at the same time as rising prices stay a big problem for planners,” stated Michael Bennet, president, Cendyn. “Discovering a steadiness between excessive prices and delivering a tremendous buyer expertise will outline successful venues in 2025. We stay up for enabling our prospects to make each visitor interplay a chance to nurture relationships and maximize profitability.”
“We now have seen an increase in secondary markets as standard locations, with 90 p.c of planners contemplating them a cost-saving various,” stated Larry Hanson, CMO, ConferenceDirect. “That being stated, planners will prioritize venues able to making a long-lasting impression. Respondents emphasised that there’s little room for compromise concerning occasion high quality and the stress is on to ship distinctive attendee experiences.”
