The Events Industry Council has released its Q2 2026 Global Business Events Barometer, which shows continued confidence in business events despite the persistent economic pressures and geopolitical uncertainty event professionals have been battling this year.
Global Events Barometer findings
The Barometer, prepared in partnership with Oxford Economics, parses key data points for events from the second quarter of this year, such as hotel group room nights and RFP activity during that time frame. From April through June, global hotel group room demand held steady at 92 percent of 2019 levels, unchanged from a year earlier, while request for proposal activity in the quarter for future events reached 113 percent of 2019 levels, suggesting strong forward-looking demand.
"The latest Barometer reinforces an important distinction between the pressures organizations are navigating today and the confidence they continue to place in the future," said Amy Calvert, president and CEO of the EIC. "We cannot ignore the economic and geopolitical realities shaping our world. Yet even in this environment, organizations are choosing to invest in bringing people together."
It's a sentiment reinforced by the findings of the Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey over the past few cycles, in which booking activity and optimism have remained strong even as concerns over rising costs and budgetary constraints are elevated. The September results indicate planners may be slightly delaying booking while assessing volatile economic and geopolitical conditions.
Group rates seem to be holding steady over the past year, with costs for rooms for large events (more than 200 rooms) at 134 percent of 2019 numbers for the second quarter, and 137 percent for smaller events. As a whole, global group room nights were at 92 percent of 2019 numbers in the second quarter.
"These findings illustrate the resilience of the business events sector in an unusually complex global environment," said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company. "While current group room demand remains below prepandemic levels, the strength of RFP activity points to a sustained pipeline of future events. This distinction is important because it shows how organizations are balancing near-term economic constraints with longer-term business priorities and the continuing value of face-to-face engagement."
Connecting industry performance with the global economy
The Barometer complements the EIC's 2026 Global Economic Significance of Business Events Study, also produced in partnership with Oxford Economics, which provides a comprehensive assessment of the industry's overall economic and societal contribution, and underscores the value of face-to-face business events.
That broader study found that in 2025, business events brought together 1.65 billion participants across more than 180 countries and generated $1.3 trillion in direct spending. Including indirect and induced impacts, the sector supported $3.1 trillion in total business sales, contributed $1.8 trillion to global GDP and sustained 24.2 million jobs worldwide. Business events generated a total economic impact of a whopping $4.44 trillion last year.
Spread the news of the industry's value
The EIC also asks industry professionals to mark their calendars for Global Meetings Industry Day 2027, which will take place on April 6, coinciding with the release of the 2027 Futures Landscape Study, a global research initiative examining the forces shaping the future of the industry. Developed in partnership with market-research firm Ipsos, the study will build on the 2025 iteration of the research. The new report will examine the evolving forces shaping the business-events ecosystem, identifying emerging opportunities and risks, and how to strengthen organizations' ability to adapt and thrive.
The EIC invites all business-event professionals to begin planning for GMID 2027, and to join the year-round advocacy campaign by sharing research findings, amplifying campaign messaging and contributing their perspectives. The EIC's Advocacy Toolkit provides the materials to start.