A Strategic Blueprint for Common Events-Industry Challenges -

The “PCMA 2026 Outlook” report combined survey responses with data from one-on-one interviews and focus groups for a multi-layered look at the challenges shaping the business events landscape.

Geopolitics is having a major impact on a significant number of global event professionals working in corporations, at associations, and destination marketing organizations (DMOs). AI and its business impact is on the minds of many event professionals, but its priority and the roadblocks to effectively leverage it vary widely, depending on the business environment. Meanwhile, there’s broad consensus in all three sectors that it will take critical thinking and strategic planning to address these challenges. These two competencies are at or near the top of the list of the skills that business leaders most want to develop in themselves and their teams.

Those findings are among the many takeaways to be found in the “PCMA 2026 Outlook” report, the first in a series of reports created by PCMA Insights and Consulting Services. The outlook report combined survey responses with data from one-on-one interviews and focus groups to create a multi-layered look at the challenges shaping the business events landscape and how organizations and leaders can meet them. Beyond data, the outlook report is filled with recommendations for strategic actions matched to specific challenges faced by each sector. “The ‘PCMA 2026 Outlook’ report is your strategic compass,” said Chantal Sturk-Nadeau, vice president of Innovation and Insights at PCMA. “It delivers the domain-specific intelligence and foresight our industry needs to transform uncertainty into opportunity in a landscape that’s being fundamentally reshaped.”

Here are a handful of highlights from the three sectors covered by the report, and examples of actions that event professionals can start taking immediately.

Corporate Events: Widespread Budget Pain

Budgets were a major pain point for global event professionals surveyed in five industries in the corporate events sector. Six out of 10 senior leaders who work in technology, pharma, professional services, or banking and finance reported that their budgets had been cut this year, while 31 percent of respondents reported no change and 6 percent reported increases. Nearly 70 percent of respondents reported that budget reallocation was having a high impact on their roles.

For half of respondents, global geopolitics, including conflict, tariffs, and elections, have changed how they plan events, while 45 percent reported no impact. Across all five industries, the ability to use gen AI was most frequently named the top skill that respondents and their teams must develop in the next 12 months, cited by 63 percent. Gen AI was followed closely by strategic planning, at 62 percent, and data analytics, at 57 percent.

And while a large majority of respondents — 70 percent — reported that their jobs demanded that they be more proactive than in the past, only 18 percent of respondents were confident they had the frameworks or tools to assess future readiness. A large majority — 82 percent — said they were not or only “somewhat” equipped to assess future risks.

Action: Don’t wait until you have the perfect predictive tools — start creating them with simple routines. For example, a short risk check at key milestones helps teams spot early signals and reduce late changes. Sharing one readiness template that tracks assumptions, risks, and trigger points across stakeholders keeps decision-making consistent.

Associations: Meeting in an Unstable World

Senior leaders and managers at small- to medium-sized associations reported similar pressures. For a third of those surveyed, geopolitics and economic instability were the factors having the most impact. Other major impacts included financial and growth pressure, identified by 22 percent, and generational change in members, by 17 percent. Ten percent of respondents cited the need to adopt AI and automation as having the biggest impact.

Nearly half of the association professionals — 47 percent — agreed that the broader community represented by their organization was growing faster than their membership. Thirty percent of respondents identified community engagement as the top metric their association measures to assess performance, compared to 25 percent who cited events and attendance and 23 percent who cited membership growth and retention.

Nearly half — 46 percent — of respondents identified strategic thinking and planning as the top skill they and their teams most needed to develop in the next five years. Two skills clusters — AI, data, and digital literacy and leadership and team management — tied for a distant second, each at 17 percent.

Overall, associations ranked moderately on two measures: relying on data rather than intuition to make decisions and the strength of their data governance policies.

Action: Reduce risk from geopolitical and economic shifts by reviewing travel, visa, and security factors earlier in the planning process and maintaining flexible budgets and adaptable contracts. Enhance data-based decision-making by developing stronger standards and consistent practices for data governance, how data is collected, stored, connected, and shared.

DMOs: Becoming Digitally Literate

Compared with other sectors, an even greater number of DMO professionals — 62 percent — identified geopolitics and economic instability as the shift having the biggest impact on their roles. Other factors trailed far behind, including financial and growth pressures, at 16 percent; talent development, 13 percent; and changes in client behavior, 5 percent. When asked how well they and their teams are prepared for future shifts in the market, respondents ranked themselves on average of 7 on a 10-point scale.

Digital literacy and strategic thinking led the way when respondents were asked what skills and expertise they and their teams should most strengthen. More than half — 56 percent — chose digital literacy as their first choice, followed by strategic thinking and planning at 27 percent, and leadership, team management, and influence, at 13 percent. Respondents reported an average readiness to compete in an environment where AI is reshaping destination selection — 6 on a 10-point scale.

Sustainability and legacy impact play a bigger role in destination strategy — especially since association clients ask for them more often in bids and event plans, the report noted. However, DMOs still find them hard to deliver, measure, and explain: Only 32 percent of respondents reported that they were confident or very confident that their social impact and/or sustainability reporting reflected real impact rather than optimistic narratives. More than half — 53 percent — were somewhat confident and 13 percent of respondents said that they were not confident that reporting reflected impact. Most respondents reported only average success — an average of 6 on a 10-point scale — in linking those initiatives with measurable increases in sales, demand, or conversions.

Action: To prepare for online search in a market shaped by AI, organize content into clear, standard formats, strengthen proof points, and structure partner offers more clearly. Stop treating AI as a side experiment and build it into daily work, such as bid drafting, content tagging, and account research.

Four Key Shifts

The newly released “PCMA 2026 Outlook” report identifies four shifts that consistently show up in corporate event teams, associations, and DMOs, across sectors and in multiple regions. They are:

1. Decision-making is becoming more selective. Volatility is pushing organizations to prioritize fewer initiatives, apply clearer criteria, and link events more tightly to outcomes.

2. Event strategies are becoming more intentional. Event strategies are shifting toward clearer priorities and stronger alignment with audience and business needs, creating a more intentional approach to long-term planning and delivery.

3. Growth depends more on intelligence than scale. Data, measurement, and personalization are becoming central to audience development, revenue, and credibility.

4. Leadership is shifting toward strategy and capability. Smaller or flatter teams are increasing the importance of skills, systems, and decision discipline over capacity alone.

Barbara Palmer is Convene’s deputy editor.

How to Access PCMA Research Reports

This year, the newly launched PCMA Insights and Consulting Services will issue six reports, each designed to provide data and insights that event professionals need to address complex challenges. In addition to the “PCMA 2026 Outlook” report, highlighted here, upcoming industry sector reports will examine financial services, health care/life sciences, information and communication technology, and retail sectors. A “4.0 Leadership: The Human Advantage” study will explore what differentiates leaders when AI is everywhere. Executive summaries are free for all.

Access the executive summary of the “PCMA 2026 Outlook” report, and learn more about it and other reports.