Amex GBT M&E: Attendee Experience, AI Implementation Lead 2026 Meeting Trends

Rising costs could put a damper on industry optimism, but budgets are rising as well as organizations realize the value of in-person events.

Optimism is the overarching sentiment among meeting professionals looking into 2026, with 85 percent of meeting professionals surveyed by American Express Global Business Travel Meetings & Events in July, saying their outlook was buoyant for next year. One reason for the bright horizon: In-person events are seen as a differentiator in a screen-dominated world and budgets are on the rise—at least slightly—for 47 percent of meetings pros, and are notably increasing for 41 percent of the survey respondents informing GBT M&E’s 2026 forecast, released last week.

Artificial intelligence—specifically, its potential to spark creativity, drive planning and communication efficiencies and crunch meetings data—figures largely into that optimism. But rising costs are the No. 1 concern and could outflank budget increases for many meetings professionals, according to the report. Additionally, economic uncertainty that could eventually lead to budget cuts were a concern for 30 percent of respondents.

Regional Analysis

Optimism for 2026 ran highest in the North American market, where 93 percent of meetings professionals surveyed said they saw a healthy industry headed into next year. Overall spend was increasing for 95 percent of respondents in that market and 45 percent said more than half of their planned events would be in-person only, focusing on human-to-human experiences. The top priority in the North American market—and one that set it apart from other markets surveyed—was a focus on incorporating artificial intelligence and other technology advancements for meeting organizing, execution and analysis. The market’s top planned use for AI next year will be focused on matchmaking for attendees and event sponsors.

Europe’s outlook for meetings and events was nearly as bullish as North America. Ninety-one percent of surveyed meetings professionals indicated they were optimistic about industry health, and 90 percent said their overall spending on meetings and events would increase next year. That said, the highest priority focus for European meetings professional will be to reduce costs in 2026, as the market braces for difficulty in delivering value against the budgets in play, despite increases. In terms of AI implementation, the market will be focused on automating and personalizing event communications.

Inflationary pressures may be putting a damper on some Latin American geographies, but optimism about industry health still ran bright for nearly eight out of every 10 meetings professionals surveyed in the market. Eighty-five percent said their budgets would rise for next year and 43 percent said more than half their meetings would be in-person only. Highest priority? Improving attendee experience with more memorable events, which was a standout initiative across all markets, according to Amex GBT M&E, but the No. 1 focus in Latin America. Like North America, LATAM neighbors will be using AI to enhance the power of human connection via attendee and sponsor matchmaking.

Asia-Pacific was the least bullish market when gut-checking the health of the meetings and events industry next year. Still, nearly three-quarters of survey respondents were expecting robust activity. Budgets are expected rise for 82 percent of APAC meeting professionals, and more than any other market those budgets would be focused on in-person only events: Over 50 percent said more than half their meetings would eschew virtual components. The highest priority initiative in APAC in 2026 will be improving the event experience for attendees—capturing fragmented attention and delivering memorable interactions. For AI, they want personalized and automated event communications.

2026 Strategies & Sticking Points

Regional variations aside, attendee experience was the No. 1 opportunity focus for meetings professionals across the board, and one that is getting harder to deliver. Generational variations across audiences is one challenge, but also the ability to capture fragmented attention and deliver an inspiring, human-centered event. One strategy, according to GBT M&E has been the concept of creating micro-communities within a larger event to tailor experiences to different information consumption styles. But overall, meetings professionals are looking at creating a wow moment through location and venue selection and by providing more interactive sessions (42 percent), increasing social activities and networking opportunities (40 percent)  and more personalized experiences (37 percent), and they are willing to shorten sessions to achieve it.

Unsurprisingly, the primary 2026 challenge for meetings professionals will be cost increases. How they will balance cost and experience will be key to success, according to the GBT M&E report. Venue choice and location may be a hard place to eke out compromise, as they can be foundational to delivering that experience. More than one-third of meeting professionals said they would seek supplementary funding from sponsors, 30 percent said they would indeed change the venue, while 29 percent would simply host fewer events. Some meeting components may be more flexible. For example, 28 percent said they will reduce food and beverage spend. Forecast authors, however, said this might be a tough place to find savings, with food costs rising and banquet staff costs still high. Fewer giveaways were a savings focus for 27 percent of survey respondents, but changing the destination made sense for less than a quarter.

Can AI Bridge Any Cost Gaps?

Whether artificial intelligence can impact cost savings is a big question that we may start to see answered in 2026. How AI can impact manual, time-consuming registration site building, attendee management and communication costs will be interesting. But also how it may support creative ideation at the front of the planning process and also, at the end of the event, the data analysis and reporting.

Meetings professionals are relatively eager to apply AI across the end-to-end planning and execution process, according the GBT M&A report. Most AI-supported activities for 2026 were front loaded in the end-to-end process, with idea generation and attendee experience functions like the matchmaking focus that came through clearly from North and Latin American respondents. Overall, 35 percent of survey respondents said they would leverage that capability. Personalized and automated communications were another heavy focus at 35 percent.

How these translate to cost savings might not hit the bottom line of each event’s cost center, but may be focused more on the efficiency of the teams planning and executing the events. How those efficiencies ultimately reflect on the overall cost of a meeting could take time to unwind.