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Part 3: Special Events State of the Industry 2024Part 3: Special Events State of the Industry 2024
Budgets may be tight, but creativity is blossoming
5 Min Read
An executive retreat dinner party with a 1920’s Art Deco paradise theme at the historical Biltmore Hotel. Event by Chris Weinberg EventsAngle Platform
Corporate events get creative
Corporate events are in a new era, it seems.
88% of our survey respondents stage corporate events. The reported average number of attendees was mostly in the 100 to 499 range (42% of respondents).
Corporate events have certainly seen an increase in the past year, likely a result of remote workers seeking some in-person company connection. Teneo Hospitality Group President Mike Schugt told Special Events, “Corporate retreats and meetings are no longer short-term commitments. The demand is robust for 2025, driven by the need for thoughtful, well-orchestrated programs. We’re noticing that clients are prioritizing early bookings to ensure they can execute on their strategic goals without compromising on location or service quality.”
2024 saw a revitalization of corporate events. Shown here: a showcase in Washington, DC by Teneo Hospitality Group. Photo courtesy Teneo Hospitality Group
When asked about the number of corporate events staged this year compared to 2023, 53% of our survey respondents said they held more. This year’s client budgets compared to 2023 seemed to either stay constant or grow slowly: 39% reported budgets increasing by 1% to 5%.
"There’s been a surge in demand for more intricate, large-scale programs, and with almost half of current leads focused on 2025, it’s evident that planners are embracing proactive, forward-thinking strategies to secure premium venues and experiences,” says Schugt.
When looking ahead, 57% of respondents expect revenue from corporate events to increase in 2025, while 32% figure it will stay about the same.
"In 2025, corporate event planners will focus even more on enhancing the attendee experience by incorporating physical and mental wellness into event programming,” predicts Schugt. “Sustainability will also take center stage, with planners prioritizing eco-friendly solutions. Leading the charge are brands like 1 Hotels, with their Certified Green Meetings initiative, and The Venetian, offering a green meeting concierge to help planners measure the carbon footprint of their events, making sustainability both actionable and transparent." (More on sustainability in a bit.)
Above information courtesy Global DMC Partners
Regarding business travel, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reported that as of July, the total U.S. domestic business travel expenditure was $421.1 billion. They also reported the breakdown of average expenditures for business travel:
Food and beverage: $41.1 billion
Entertainment/speakers/production: $32.9 billion
Meeting administration: $23.6 billion
Other meeting operations: $19.4 billion
Meeting venue rental: $12.1 billion
Meeting registration fees: $11.5 billion
Transportation and staff travel: $9 billion
Bleisure is still thriving; according to travel company Skyscanner:
83% of Americans turn their work trips into leisure at least sometimes
55% of Americans use PTO to extend their time away
59% of Americans are willing to spend more than $1,000 on a bleisure trip
Event planners who work with corporate events have the opportunity to capitalize on bleisure, sustainability, and in-person trends, offering creative events and programming to the business sector.
Events must be accessible to all
In previous reports, we’ve highlighted sustainability through the lens of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), focusing on environmental longevity and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, particularly in racial and LGBTQIA+ realms. This year, a new sector of inclusion made its way into public consciousness: accessibility and disability inclusion. This means looking at ways to make events inclusive for all types of bodies and minds.
In his session David Merrell & Susie Perelman Present: Current Trends in the Event Industry at Catersource + The Special Event 2024, Creative Director of AOO Events David Merrell laid out what neuroinclusivity looks like:
“Basically, it’s the idea that everybody interacts and experiences the world around them in a different way, and there’s really no one right way or wrong way. So, a neurodivergent person would be someone who has ADHD, or OCD, or autism, or dyslexia—I would venture to say in this room, there are people that have certain variations or certain degrees of that.”
He emphasized that it’s time “to now start thinking about the fact that corporations are actually starting to pay attention to neurodiversity, and make sure that their content and what they do for everybody ... is available for everyone to sensory process in their own way.”
The 2024 Disability Equality Index® report was released this July at the Disability:IN Global Conference & Expo, noting that this year, there were “higher year-over-year adoption rates for nearly all reported practices around disability inclusion while also showing the need for more progress in areas such as diversity reporting, supplier diversity spending and boardroom inclusion.” Other notable statistics included:
45% are publishing diversity reports that include disability data, up from 24% in 2023.
71% have a requirement to ensure digital products are accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities, up from 64% in 2023.
24% have company-wide disability-focused goals in place for supplier diversity and inclusion.
2025 will see increased conversation around accessibility and inclusivity, drawing on discussion from the past few years and seeking ways to practically apply better accessibility strategies.
Special Events published a guide to accessible events—give it a look to check in on your own event accessibility practices.
Eco-friendly events
According to the Huddle report, ESG considerations in the events industry are finally moving from conversation to action:
73% of organizations have a dedicated ESG strategy
60% conduct environmental audits
56% have a roadmap to achieve Net Zero by 2050
70% are on track to achieve 2030 Net Zero goals
81% have invested in energy efficiency, waste reduction, recycling, and carbon offsetting programs
Other strides toward progress include efforts by the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, including a new AI sustainability tool.
Event producers have increasingly turned to partners that share similar values to ease the burden of creating sustainable events. Photo courtesy Destination Canada/Parléview/Johnson Studios
Efforts to help attendees make better choices are helping to shift client demand as well—climate labeling, which displays the carbon footprint of different foods, allow attendees to see the impact of the food they eat at events, shifting client demand slowly but surely.
Over the past couple years, event pros have gotten tired of talking the talk and have worked toward taking real, practical steps to walk the walk. Event goers have made it clear: events that prioritize environmental sustainability are the ones that will have the highest attendance as time progresses.
Click here for Part 1 of our annual SOI Report.
Click here for Part 2 of our annual SOI Report
