Undertaken between January and March this year, BCD’s 2026 Global Client Survey canvassed 240 senior stakeholders in meetings and events from around the world, gaining perspectives from North America, Europe, the UK, Asia Pacific and South America.
The survey found that no change is the prevailing view across several key metrics for events: 69.6 per cent of those surveyed expect their event sizes to remain flat, while 56.3 per cent expect the number of events they run will remain the same and 57.1 per cent are expecting no change to their budget – although 26.3 per cent are expecting a reduction to their budgets.
“Budgets might be stabilising, but expectations certainly aren’t,” said BCD Meetings and Events global president, Bruce Morgan.
“That’s changing the way programs are planned and measured – it’s creating greater demand for partners who can help customers navigate complexity while demonstrating clear business outcomes.”
Costs remain the single biggest challenge for BCD’s event clients, with 84 per cent citing inflation and cost increases as the greatest external challenge and 80 per cent confirming cost containment measures were having the greatest influence within their organisations on their event programs. Both of these cost related elements have only increased since the 2025 survey.
“Clients are functioning in a far more disciplined environment, where cost pressure, governance and ROI expectations shape every decision,” said Morgan.
“Organisations generally aren’t asking for more events; they want more value from the events they already run.”
Safety and security was the biggest mover amongst external challenges with the proportion of those citing it as the most significant challenge climbing by 9.6 per cent in 2026 compared to 2025.
Attitudes towards sustainable events appear to have shifted slightly, with most sustainability priorities falling in 2026, with the exception of travelling more sustainability, which more respondents identified as a priority.
