If anyone still needs evidence that business events are more than a nice-to-have for the hospitality industry, EIC’s most recent report comes armed with some pretty persuasive numbers.
In fact, business events generated $1.3 trillion in direct spending worldwide in 2025. Once the ripple effects are factored in, that number climbs to $3.1 trillion in total business sales, with $1.8 trillion flowing into global GDP and 24.2 million jobs supported along the way.
And this isn’t a small, specialized corner of the economy. Some 1.65 billion people participated in business events across more than 180 countries last year.
The findings, from the Events Industry Council and Oxford Economics, also offer a useful reminder of where the money is moving. North America remains the biggest market, accounting for $487.7 billion in direct spending, or 37.8% of the global total. Asia followed at $352.8 billion, edging past Western Europe’s $328 billion.
Corporate and business events generated the largest share of spending, at $566 billion. Conventions, conferences and congresses contributed another $383.2 billion, while trade shows generated $178.5 billion and incentive events $86.6 billion.
There’s more ahead. Oxford Economics projects direct business-event spending will hit $1.6 trillion by 2028, growing at an average annual rate of 6.7%. Direct employment is expected to reach roughly 10.4 million jobs.
But perhaps the more interesting part of the report is what happens beyond the balance sheet.
Seventy percent of those surveyed said relationship-building through face-to-face interaction was the event outcome hardest to replace. Organizations estimated that 28% of their revenue would disappear without attending or exhibiting at in-person events. And respondents put the return on that investment at $11 in incremental revenue for every $1 spent on attending or exhibiting.
Trade shows alone brought together 318 million participants in 2025 and generated $179 billion in direct spending. Including the wider economic impact, they supported $444 billion in business sales, $256 billion in GDP and 4.3 million jobs.
For an industry that spends a lot of time explaining why face-to-face still matters, the report offers a fairly simple answer: It matters because people do business when they meet. They make connections, find customers, exchange ideas, build partnerships—and, apparently, generate trillions of dollars while they’re at it.
The full report is available for purchase at EIC Publications.
