Why the Events Industry is Stronger Than Ever? Insights from IBTM Trends Report 2025

The IBTM Trends Report 2025 reveals an events industry that is expanding and proving resilient despite global pressures, with in-person experiences retaining their strategic value. The study highlights six driving forces (demographics, transformation, AI, investment, sustainability and culture) that are reshaping the sector. The report, authored by Alistair Turner (below), Managing Director of Eight PR & Marketing, also notes rising investment and consolidation, introducing the new Ignite section to explore the industry’s evolving financial landscape. 

The IBTM Trends Report 2025 signals optimism for the meetings industry despite global turbulence, from geopolitical tension to inflation. Its resilience reflects structural strength built over years. Event professionals have become adept at demonstrating ROI, ensuring live experiences are no longer viewed as discretionary but as core to marketing and sales. Turner explains: “This is one of the most positive aspects of the report, that this growth is occurring despite some of the greatest challenges the industry has faced since the pandemic. The industry has proven structurally robust and responsible over a long period, moving ‘events’ up in sales and marketing budgets from ‘first to cut’ to closer to ‘last to cut’.”

The report highlights a renewed appreciation for in-person connection, countering digital fatigue. Turner links this to a post-pandemic shift where live engagement is viewed not as a temporary rebound but a long-term differentiator: “I believe that the industry accelerated out of the pandemic based on the renewed value of face-to-face experience. There is no doubt that the event industry’s juxtaposition against digital communication is another major reason for this continued growth. In terms of responsibility, authenticity, creativity and purpose, live events are the antidote to social and digital marketing.”

Strategically, demographics are now central to event design. The rise of older audiences alongside Gen Z creates multi-generational challenges. The report stresses the need to recalibrate approaches to older delegates, who are increasingly digitally adept, socially engaged and economically active. “The clear opportunity lies within the over-60s demographic, who are growing in volume at an exponential rate. How we treat these audiences says a lot about how businesses look at every demographic and how focused approach has many hidden benefits. It would be wrong to say that events do not recognise these audiences, but there is a tendency for brands to be overly concerned with the enthusiasm of younger generations and the demographic changes they bring with them.” The narrative was to reposition older audiences as proactive and participatory members of society, rather than sidelined from it.

This demographic shift is also transforming the core purpose of business events. The report flags a move from events as solely learning or networking platforms to hubs for experiences centred on belonging, identity, and personal impact. Turner emphasises the strategic swing required: “This nods back to the earlier point around value and ROI; the shift from event professionals as ‘organisational’ to ‘strategic’. In the past, we have seen personalisation as the ability to communicate with individuals with more information about them. But the broader shift is to understand that different people – be this generational or not – require different outcomes from events.”
 

"By understanding different generations, event professionals can speak across multiple generations without pigeonholing into lazy stereotypes"

Closely linked to this is the aspiration for transformational events. Imagination and creativity become key differentiators, yet Turner notes that many events claim experiential credentials without scrutinising their experience against a high benchmark. “This challenge of transformationalism is a bold one, and it is fair to say that many events are not on this journey just yet. We need to respect the inherent difficulty in delivering genuine transformational experiences and see it as a high aspiration. That being said, many brands and businesses are reaching this benchmark.”

On the other hand, imagination poverty, lip service and generic concepts remain a challenge, particularly when it comes to maintaining audience engagement. Turner argues that outcomes, rather than rhetoric, are the defining measure: “The reality is that brands and businesses will find out those events and event professionals who lazily apply buzzwords, without the strategic integrity they deserve, or lack the creative quality that is driving so much positive effects in the industry... guests, consumers, and audiences can feel when they are truly being engaged, and act when they are being excited or challenged. Messages resonate and turn into behaviours when they are delivered with purpose and commitment.”
 

The integration of AI presents both promise and caution. AI can enhance accessibility, augment creativity, and streamline operations, but unchecked, it risks homogenising experiences. Our interlocutor emphasises the critical role of human oversight in preserving event distinctiveness: “The mix between large language models, agentic thinking, and digital communication has to be balanced through human thinking and behaviour. Event professionals understand this, and recommend using AI only where it adds most value to the event: accessibility, automation and augmentation. However, the promise of personalisation has not been delivered, and having AI drive it into more homogenous spaces will be detrimental to audience experiences.” Equally, AI-led design reduces the value of tactility and individualism that has been one of the great achievements of recent event creation.

Moreover, financial maturity signals growth in value and long-term stability. Increased startup activity, investment, and mergers and acquisitions indicate the sector’s growing stability and attractiveness to capital markets. “History shows us that this trend is a bell curve, with investors jumping in while the industry is hot but exiting as soon as the sector shows weakness. Looking at some of the biggest event tech companies, large event agencies and well-funded destinations, we often see the biggest ideas, investment in innovation, and market-leading data and insight,” he says.
 

"Brands need to be challenged, and the industry needs to hold clients accountable if they keep hiding away from sustainable event design"

Sustainability remains a pressing area for industry action. As regulatory frameworks expand, the report stresses that compliance must become a commercial advantage. Turner underscores this imperative: “For too long, events have been seen as an unwilling battlefield to hit ESG targets, and a box-ticking exercise lacking real commitment. This is both wrong and dangerous. A number of forwardthinking organisations have developed training, tracking, and benchmarking tools needed to assess environmental impact. There really should be no excuses for events to own sustainability and be part of the wider conversation.”

Finally, DE&I is moving from tokenism toward genuine engagement. Events are increasingly judged on how effectively they reach diverse audiences and create meaningful interaction. Turner warns that the growing focus on culture and community must not become an excuse to sidestep DE&I: “There is a changing societal trend, with DE&I being owned and misused, as well as evolving in its narrative. The main thing for events is to be representative and to take their responsibility seriously to ensure content finds its audience, no matter where or who they are.”
 

Published by Meeting Media Company, the publisher of Headquarters Magazine (HQ) – a leading international publication based in Brussels, serving the global MICE industry and association community.