The role of business events in combatting over-tourism

Short for time? Scroll to the bottom to discover the key takeaways.

Can business events play a role in helping to tackle global issues like over-tourism? This is one of the topics to be discussed at this month’s IBTM World Forum for Advocacy, in partnership with The Business of Events.

Eloísa Urrutia, Head of Global Sustainability, Meetings & Events at American Express Global Business Travel, will be there to present her views on the subject. Mike Fletcher caught up with her to get a preview of her insights into how the industry can make a positive difference.

We’ve seen numerous protests around the world against over-tourism. What are the key issues in relation to climate change?

You’d think more tourism is a good thing, but a surplus of tourists doesn’t always translate into economic gains for a destination. It’s not just about large numbers but the uneven spread and concentration in certain areas. Take Venice, for example. It has around 50,000 residents and around 20 million visitors a year. It’s completely unhealthy.

From a sustainability perspective, as tourism numbers increase, the need for water, energy, and waste management grows and can outstrip resources. This leads to shortages and higher prices.

Tourists tend to consume considerably more energy and water than residents, which can severely affect natural and cultural heritage sites, ultimately making these places less desirable to live or visit. Social impacts include gentrification and changes in the structure, values, and behaviour of the resident population that end with not being able to live in these touristic areas.

How are business events different? How can they be a counterbalance to over-tourism if destinations focus instead on bringing meetings and events to their cities?

One way business events can help counterbalance over-tourism is by reducing seasonality. MICE tourists usually travel during off-peak seasons, which helps spread the economic benefit throughout the year.

Business event attendees also typically spend more on accommodation, dining and services compared with leisure tourists. Various studies have shown that business visitors spend anywhere from 25% to 50% more than leisure travellers.

Moreover, sustainability has become a crucial element in well-developed meeting programs. Over half (Source: 2025 Global Meetings and Events Forecast by Amex GBT) of meeting professionals consider it highly important in their 2025 planning, with 47% having established clear sustainability goals while also focusing on DE&I practices, waste management, and eco-friendly food and beverage options. 

What role can business events play in the context of climate change?

Since Covid, we’ve seen how important in-person travel and events are. They drive prosperity, spark innovation, and strengthen both cultural and business connections.

88% of workers say in-person interactions are critical for positive long-term relationships between employees and co-workers, and 84% say more deals are done (Source: Harvard Business Review Analytic and Amex GBT).

There’s real value in that, but now it’s about adapting how we deliver these events to better meet today’s social and environmental needs.

Meetings and event attendees are demanding more sustainable, environmentally conscious events. If events don’t align with these values, people are less likely to attend.

Many companies now embed sustainability into their DNA, with ambitious goals. Meetings and events play a pivotal role in connecting people, and they are a key platform to showcase company values and ESG commitments to a wide audience- whether it’s about social, environmental, or business and economic issues. At Amex GBT Meetings & Events, we wholeheartedly embrace this shift and integrate sustainability throughout our operational framework and meeting solutions.

You can’t replicate the emotional connections and impact of face-to-face interaction on Zoom. In-person events are essential for driving change.

How do we maximise the positive impacts of events whilst managing and mitigating associated negative environmental impacts?

It’s all about having the right foundations: bold goals and values. I’ll be bold - any company not adopting sustainability goals is going to eventually lose their license to operate: sustainability isn’t just a trend, it’s strategy: 9,436 global companies have committed to SBTi’s (Science Based Target Initiatives) and are taking bold action, including Amex GBT, representing 39% of the global economy by market capitalisation

There’s so much data showing people want more sustainable goods and services, and those are our event attendees, now and in the future.

It’s also about embedding sustainability across all the players in event delivery - travel management companies, trade shows, local administrations, and tourism boards.

As travel and event management companies, we have an important role to play. At Amex GBT, our purpose is to power progress through travel, so we’re committed to using meetings, travel, and events for good by building sustainability into our DNA.

This means investing in technology to measure and track emissions, designing solutions and building our sustainability expertise to support our clients.

Education and awareness are key. If people are aware, they can start making better decisions when sourcing and planning meetings- like choosing more sustainable destinations and venues, prioritising less carbon intensive travel options or reducing waste.

It also means going further and fostering sustainability advancement across the travel and event industry, like investing in helping decarbonise aviation through sustainable aviation fuel. Amex GBT is a strategic investor in United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund, a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle designed to support startups focused on reducing carbon emissions associated with air travel on a lifecycle basis by accelerating the research, production, and technologies associated with SAF.

We’re also involved in efforts like the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, sharing knowledge and resources to help make events more sustainable across the board.

What outcomes would you like to see from the IBTM World Advocacy Forum?

The sustainability transition will be government-enabled but private-sector led. We must make sustainability a top priority globally, and each of us has a role to play and responsibilities to assume, leading by example.

When it comes to overtourism, experts suggest to encourage rebalancing of a ‘growth paradigm’ with a ‘value or quality paradigm’, where the measure of success is not only centred on visitors’ arrivals measures, but on the value that such presence brings to a destination.

Tourism administrations can set boundaries and foster more sustainable and value generating types of tourism, that integrate local communities and show the social and economic benefits of travel, making sure that their intention is “improving the life of the population”.

This requires tight cooperation between destination stakeholders, including local communities, business and administration, and policymakers.

Local tourism businesses also need support to face their transition to more sustainable practices and operations, including adopting new technologies, obtaining green third-party certifications and implementing more sustainable operations.

Overall, we need more awareness and education across the board: awareness drives adoption.

A strategic roadmap from the Forum, addressing the above through a cooperative and joint approach, focused on innovative models and quality/value-driven tourist segment focus (like business travel or cultural travel) - with clear goals for year one and year two, would be valuable to keep everyone on track.

Eloísa Urrutia, Head of Global Sustainability, Meetings & Events at American Express Global Business Travel, will discuss how business events can counterbalance the challenges of over-tourism and climate change. at IBTM World’s Forum for Advocacy, in partnership with The Business of Events, on Monday, 18 November, at the Torre Melina Gran Melia Hotel. She will then explore the outcomes of the forum on IBTM’s Impact Stage at 15:30 the following day (19 November).