IBTM World Trends Report highlights global demographic shifts as key to future-proofing the industry

The results of IBTM’s eagerly awaited Trends Report 2025, revealed at its flagship IBTM World show in Barcelona, paint a picture of a growing and resilient industry, despite global headwinds.

The report examines the key forces shaping the global meetings and events industry, drawing on data from more than 140 sources. It reveals a high level of industry confidence, fuelled by factors such as events’ role as a powerful counterbalance to the digital world, deeper integration of analytics and ROI, and a stronger focus on strategic thinking and creative innovation.

The report also explores how to future-proof the industry’s growth, highlighting global demographic shifts as a key opportunity. Today, more than 1.1 billion of the world’s eight billion people are aged 60 or over, a figure expected to rise to 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. It argues that the industry can harness this shift and that an inclusive approach to engaging this generation of delegates could serve as a model for the future.

The report also highlights how the industry’s growing success is attracting increased attention from the financial sector. With a rise in startups, investment activity, and mergers and acquisitions, capital is beginning to view events as a stable and promising investment. In response to this trend, the report introduces a new section titled Ignite. This area of the report is dedicated to the dynamics of finance within meetings and events. It’s an exciting new area, which will be reflected on the show floor in IBTM Ignite.

The annual report is written by Managing Director of Eight PR & Marketing, Alistair Turner. Alistair commented: “This is one of the most dynamic and positive reports of the last five years, as we explore why events and experience continue to grow as an industry. However, it is also our responsibility to safeguard that growth, and the report delivers some fascinating conclusions on where the future of the industry could lie, and how event organisers can take advantage of this.”

Alongside its focus on growth and demographic shifts, the report will delve into other trends impacting human behaviour across the globe. These include culture and brands, AI, transformationalism and personalisation, imagination poverty, sustainability and DE&I.

Lucy Dyer, Conference Content Manager, IBTM World, said: “Our annual trends report is an invaluable barometer for measuring the state of the industry, as well as an in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities ahead. An essential resource for our community, this year’s report paints an encouraging picture of industry resilience, while also offering several compelling strategies for future-proofing. We trust the insights within the report will empower readers to drive progress and strengthen the industry locally, regionally, and globally.”