A new report has revealed global destination competitiveness is increasingly being shaped by value, connectivity, policy support and measurable impact rather than venue capacity alone.
The Global Destination Report 2026, by The Business of Events in partnership with VisitScotland Business Events, highlights a business events sector that has transitioned from post-pandemic recovery into a phase of stabilisation. Survey findings show that performance remains positive overall, but growth is moderating.
Business events continue to generate significant economic value across destinations globally. In 2025, just under three-quarters (68%) of respondents reported annual economic value exceeding €25 million ($41m), while nearly a fifth (17%) reported impacts above €500 million ($822m), including 7 per cent who reported value exceeding €5 billion ($8.2bn).
However, economic impact remains unevenly distributed, with the highest-value contributions concentrated among a smaller group of destinations, particularly in Southern Europe and North America.
Event activity has stabilised, with the majority (around 90%) of destinations reporting stable or increasing volumes, while growth in economic value has increased in 2025 to 67 per cent, following a dip in 2024 and after a peak in 2023.
Notably, this improvement in economic value occurred despite over three-quarters (80%) of respondents reporting stable or reduced budgets, highlighting continued resilience under constrained conditions.
Association events continue to act as a stabilising force across the sector, consistently demonstrating greater resilience than corporate or incentive business during periods of uncertainty.
Tier-2 destinations are becoming increasingly competitive despite operating with limited resources, progressively leveraging closer stakeholder collaboration, walkability, and more personalised delegate experiences as competitive differentiators.
Team capacity remains a core challenge, with over half of respondents (58%) reporting that their teams are too small to deliver against their objectives, despite gradual improvement in recent years.
This constraint is not evenly distributed geographically, with respondents from Asia and Oceania reporting the highest levels of satisfaction with resourcing, while respondents from Central and Southern America, Africa, and Eastern Europe reported the lowest levels.
Geopolitical factors are now a substantial influencing factor, with around 86 per cent of respondents reporting moderate to significant impact on their ability to attract and deliver events.
Some US destinations in particular are experiencing increasing challenges linked to international perception, visa access, and geopolitical positioning, especially in attracting international attendance.
Across regions, there is a shared ambition to position business events as a strategic driver of economic growth, sector development, and long-term place-making, rather than a discretionary branch of tourism.
This is set against a backdrop of resilient demand facing external pressures, persistent resource constraints, and a gradually improving, though still uneven, level of government understanding.
“As our report shows, although the sector generates significant economic value for destinations, it continues to face budget and resource constraints, as well as an advocacy gap in ensuring this value is fully reflected in policymaking,” said a spokesperson for The Business of Events.
Neil Brownlee, Head of VisitScotland Business Events, said business events are about much more than numbers.
“My colleagues and I at VisitScotland Business Events and across the wider industry have long advocated for a more holistic approach to measuring the impact of business events,” he said.
“I remain committed to working together with my industry colleagues to find ways to better advocate for the value of business events to government.”
