Ninety-three percent of respondents
American Express Global Business Travel published its 2027 Global Meetings and Events Forecast. The forecast reports that 93 percent of meetings professionals are optimistic about the health of the meetings sector in 2027.
The survey covered 500 meetings professionals in 11 countries, with fieldwork in August 2026 by YouGov. Hotel Dive reported the findings on 14 October 2026.
Three priorities for the year
Respondents named three priorities for 2027: improving the attendee experience, improving risk management and compliance, and reducing costs. Improving the attendee experience ranks first across every global region.
91 percent expect their meetings and events spend to increase in 2027. 79 percent already apply risk management practices to all or most of their meetings. More professionals expect to hold more meetings than fewer in every meeting type.
Cost per attendee rises across every meeting type
Amex GBT expects cost per attendee to rise across every meeting type. 24 percent of respondents said they would change their hotel or accommodation to ease the effect of cost increases.
Cost now sits first among the factors meeting professionals weigh when they select a venue. The forecast records movement from traditional hotels towards restaurants, cultural sites and boutique venues.
Amex GBT forecasts that global hotel room rates will be more expensive in 2027 on sustained corporate demand.
Gerardo Tejado Donde, senior vice president of professional services at Amex GBT, said the optimism is grounded in realism. He said 2027 will demand sharper risk management and disciplined cost control, and that planners are determined that the show must go on.
Disruption is already moving bookings
39 percent of respondents report a change in destination or city. 37 percent report holding more virtual meetings. 30 percent report smaller meetings or a change of venue.
Amex GBT recorded a 71 percent increase in the number of travellers assisted by its traveller care service in 2025.
What attendees are asking for
Respondents report that attendees expect more personalised experiences, cited by 35 percent, more social activities and networking, cited by 31 percent, and more hands-on, interactive sessions and workshops, also cited by 31 percent.
North America: closer to home, longer lead times
The North America cohort is among the most optimistic, and more likely than peers in other regions to see spending increase. 51 percent of the region's respondents say they are very optimistic for the year ahead.
Cost and hotel staffing are the region's top concerns. Meeting professionals there plan to hold meetings closer to home and to build in longer lead times.
The top North America destinations for 2027 are Orlando, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York and Dallas.
The forecast follows a Global Business Travel Association poll that found business travel professionals increasingly optimistic about spending, trip volume and revenue over the next 12 months.
Where the report leaves hotel rates
The forecast gives a direction for 2027 room rates and the demand behind them. The published coverage carries no rate percentage and no city-level rate table.
Three figures bear on hotel sourcing: the 24 percent of planners prepared to change their hotel or accommodation, the placement of cost first among venue-selection factors, and the five destinations named for North America.