PCMA
Equipping the industry to turn instinct into evidence and evidence into budget
AMERICA’ S BUSINESS EVENTS INDUSTRY ISN’ T JUST RECOVERING, IT’ S REBUILDING FOR WHAT COMES NEXT, ACCORDING TO THE PROFESIONAL CONVENTION MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION’ S CEO SHERRIF KARAMAT
F or readers tracking the
global business events industry from London, Singapore or São Paulo, the United States remains the market to watch – not because it is the largest, but because it signals where our industry is heading next. When I look at the US business events landscape today, I see an environment defined by resilience and reinvention. Business events strategists are not simply weathering the current moment – they are redesigning the model built for it.
The numbers make a case that is hard to ignore. The global business events industry generated $ 3.1trn in total business sales in 2025, contributed $ 1.8trn to global GDP, and supported 24.2m jobs, according to the‘ 2026 Global Economic Significance of
Business Events Study’, released by the Events Industry Council( EIC).
North America led global direct spending with $ 487.7bn, followed by Asia, $ 352.8bn; Western Europe, $ 328bn; Latin America and the Caribbean, $ 42.6bn; Central and Eastern Europe, $ 34.1bn; Africa, $ 25.8bn; and the Middle East, $ 21.1bn.
Across the US alone, our industry supports roughly 2.6m jobs and drives more than $ 400bn in annual economic impact. That is not a side industry. That is a core engine of the American economy – one that touches hotels, restaurants, transportation, small businesses and the civic infrastructure of nearly every destination in the country.
Yet strength does not mean ease. UFI’ s Global Exhibition Barometer
Above: found 92 % of US respondents expect another year of growth in 2026, even as global economic developments and geopolitical uncertainty top the industry ' s list of concerns. Workforce plans tell a confidence story of their own: 38 % of US events strategists are adding team members this year, and not a single one reported plans to cut. Budget discipline, not automatic expansion, has become the operating assumption. Nobody is retreating. Everybody is recalculating.
This is not simply an economy in flux, it is an industry being asked to prove its value in a new way. Boards no longer ask whether events matter; rather they want data and expense. That is why PCMA’ s role has never mattered more, in the US and beyond. Our job is not only to convene this community, it is to equip it, turning instinct into evidence and evidence into budget.
I see three imperatives for the year ahead. First, translate economic weight – 2.6m American jobs, $ 400bn in impact – into advocacy that protects this industry. Second, meet the AI moment with discipline, not just enthusiasm; adoption is nearly universal, but strategic use still lags. Third, keep building the case that in-person connection is not a discretionary expense, it is infrastructure for business itself.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because a community of professionals chooses quarter after quarter, to build something stronger than the conditions they inherited. What is true in the US right now is instructive for every market represented in these pages: the fundamentals of this industry are sound, even when the headlines are not.
The road ahead will not be without friction, on either side of the Atlantic. But the data is clear, the demand is real, and the opportunity is ours to build – together. The mandate is clear: convene with intent, measure what matters, and make trust our competitive advantage. n Sherrif Karamat
“ The United States remains the market to watch – not because it is the largest, but because it signals where our industry is heading next”
ISSUE 144 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 15