CHICAGO — Maritz released its 2025 Industry Trends report at IMEX America this year, highlighting new trends in registration, hotel rates, industry pricing and evolving payment technologies.
Trade Show Executive (TSE) checked in with Steve O’Malley, Chief Operating Officer at Maritz, to dig deeper into the report and learn what its findings mean for trade show organizers in the next year.
Preliminary Data Shows Declines in Registration Volume for the First Half of the Year
As geopolitical factors continue to create uncertainty, event registration volume from the first half of 2025 shows signs of negative impacts.
According to Maritz data comparing registration volume from March through August of 2024 to the same period in 2025, overall registrations were down 3% on average. Within that dataset, there is a lot of variation by event, with some seeing significantly steeper decreases and some seeing surging increases, yet of the shows that saw decreases in 2025, the average decrease was 11%.
When looking at international registrations, the data shows even more significant declines, with overall international registrants down 13%. When the shows that didn’t see declines are taken out of the dataset, those that did experience decreases saw an average of 20%-25% fewer international registrations in 2025.
“When there was so much uncertainty in the marketplace in the springtime, especially if it was an international program, that showed softness. We’ve seen that no longer has been sustained, so now, I think, we’re seeing international travel come back,” O’Malley said. “The issue that we face is if an event itself has exposure to either government spend or to higher education, that’s where we’re seeing softness [continue].”
These findings align with what TSE has reported in its quarterly Dashboard so far in 2025, with attendance across the industry trending downward in the first half of the year when compared to 2024.
Another notable finding about registration is that external corporate events see a bulk of attendees register in the 30–90-day window before the event, compared to the higher last-minute registrations for trade shows and association events.
And while late registrations can be a headache for organizers, O’Malley shared that these attendees are typically more committed and spend more money with an event.
“We found in our data that the closer in that people book, the more valuable they are as attendees to those events because they’re now fully committed. They’re going to make the most of their experience. They’re going to buy the add-ons to go to the evening events, to go take that additional certification training,” O’Malley said. “There’s a degree of when it comes to attracting people to your events, you want to optimize their spend with you and optimize their experience, but I think that it’s a matter of if you get early-bird discounts for too long then you’re not going to potentially incentivize people to move forward more quickly and not get the kind of behavior that we see [with late registrants].”
Hotel Rates Projected to Remain Steady
A shift from hoteliers focusing on occupancy levels to keeping average daily rates steady to make up for softer demand means hotel group rates don’t appear to be coming down any time soon — even as group demand decreases and leisure demand weakens.
The report highlights that for upper-end chains, the forecasts show slight yearly increases of average daily rates through 2027 (1.1% in 2026 and 2% in 2027).
“I think our entire industry can be optimistic because the rate of increase has certainly gone down dramatically. What we’re predicting for next year is a 1.1% rise in hotel rates. That’s pretty much aligned with what we’ve always experienced in the industry,” O’Malley said. “We’re trying to counsel our clients to say now is the time to book. There was a lull in booking in the springtime when there was so much uncertainty out there, between tariffs and everything else, and as a result, there are a number of markets that are very hungry for the bookings.”
Inflation Outlook for Events
A major positive finding from the Maritz report is that prices for the meetings and events industry are projected to stabilize, a welcomed outlook after the last few years of rising prices and high volatility. The report shows that while 2025 saw overall prices go up about 3.7%, in 2026 the industry can expect to see a more modest overall increase of about 2.4%.
When looking at the pricing broken down, it is expected that:
- Hotel pricing will be up 1-3%
- Air pricing will be up 0-1%
- F&B pricing will be up 3-6%
- Wages for event staff will be up 3-4%
Payment Technology Changes on the Horizon
As technology and consumers evolve and change, payment methods are evolving as well. Maritz projects that physical forms of payment, including credit cards, will be phased out as contactless and digital methods become more popular.
The report highlights three ways this could play out in events.
- QR codes for registration rather than credit cards
- Tokenized payments used to enhance security, like Venmo, Zelle or PayPal
- Using hotel loyalty apps to store credit card information to hold hotel rooms rather than a housing provider storing it
For organizers who operate internationally or welcome international attendees, it is important to start looking at what payment methods are used in different regions to be prepared for this shift.
“Organizers know they need to accommodate however the people that are coming to their events want to pay. In different parts of the world, all throughout Asia, you can use different apps to pay for most of your travel expenses,” O’Malley said. “People want the ability to use a more secure kind of chip and tap technology than the traditional swiping of a credit card method. We, as an industry, have to begin to adapt to all of this because it’s going to be safer, more secure and more reliable for every transaction that takes place between show providers, show organizers and the guests.”
Overall Feeling of Optimism on the Rise
Based on Maritz’ report and the data coming in from Q3 2025 shows, O’Malley is optimistic about the near future of the events industry.
“We’re closing out the year, and we’ve survived the turbulence that took place in the springtime, and I think the marketplace is very strong now opposed to June. I would run into our hotel partners, and they’d say they’re taking their forecasts down,” O’Malley said. “In talking to our hotel partners at IMEX, they’re looking to be close to the original forecasts now. I think that it’s surprising to a degree, but it’s also reassuring that our market is very healthy and the meetings and events business is thriving.”
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