NASSAU, Bahamas — Top of mind at this year’s Global DMC Partners Connection 2025 at the Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, Bahamas, held June 12-15, were the challenges currently impacting the MICE industry and how to mitigate those challenges.
The annual conference drew 227 attendees in total, including 88 clients and 63 DMCs, with 31 countries represented. It featured three days of networking, education sessions, one-on-one meetings, a beach cleanup CSR activity and other events.
For the kickoff session, “Future-Proofing Events: Key Global Trends and Industry Perspectives,” Catherine Chaulet, President & CEO of Global DMC Partners along with input from industry panelists set the stage with an overview of the state of the industry.
Chaulet’s presentation was based on reports from a variety of sources including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Institute for Supply Management (ISM), and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), among others.
On the meetings side, Chaulet said that 53% of MICE planners have had to reschedule meetings due to political or unforeseen crises, with some being postponed from 2025 to 2026 because of geopolitical tensions, delays with visas and today’s economic uncertainty.
“Visas in some countries are particularly limiting,” Chaulet said. “There are a number of conferences that simply cannot happen at the global level, because where that conference or trade show is happening doesn’t allow certain visas, or they do not get them fast enough.”
She noted the U.S. is still having these issues with visas. “We are seeing conferences not considering the U.S. anymore, looking at other markets for a number of reasons — visas being one of them.” She added there is also the sentiment that attendees and speakers fear they may not be allowed in.
Related. International Attendance at U.S. Meetings at a Critical Crossroads
“This is something that I’m struggling with,” she said. “I’d like to have real data on this, and I feel very often there is a lot of communication around it, but how often is it really happening?”
Today’s economy is also a hindrance, according to Chaulet, as studies show that 51% of the meeting planners see the cost unpredictability as a major deterrent. “It’s not just that the costs are high, it’s that there is a projection that maybe they will change dramatically. Tariffs, for instance, are a big challenge. You cannot predict what the budget of that conference might be if tariffs may change a lot in the next few months or a few years.”
As a result, meetings and events are happening last minute. She said for Q1 and Q2, the bookings were looking very slow, but with both large and small meetings being decided a month or two out, the quarters were on par with last year. “When looking at Q3 and Q4 we can’t make any projection. It still looks very slow, but will it act the same way as Q1 [and] Q2? Will it suddenly peak up? Probably. A lot of our DMCs and a lot of clients are seeing this as well.”
Chaulet reiterated that especially now, planners need to champion the benefits of meetings with their CEOs and CFOs. She suggested presenting the statistics supporting the industry, such as that 72% of global companies use MICE for employee engagement and customer loyalty, and that more than 58% of all deals are initiated through MICE events.
“This is the type of data you need to bring back,” she said.
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