CHICAGO — The results of a joint survey conducted by Trade Show Executive, Lippman Connects and Evolio Marketing at the end of 2025, have been released in a new white paper for the industry.
The published findings, titled “Tradeshow Industry Insights Study,” explore how organizers are defining success at their shows, as well as updates on registration and pricing, and AI adoption. The respondents to the survey represent a select group of senior leaders from mid-sized and large B2B trade shows, with more than 50% of respondents being at the Executive Vice President, Vice President or General Manager level and above.
The results of the survey are broken out based on show size, with mid-size shows being defined as those with less than 125,000 net square feet, and large shows being described as those with 125,000 net square feet or larger floorplans.
Exploring Event Success Metrics
When it comes to defining success, 96% of organizers use the number of attendees as a metric, while 93% use total revenue and 88% use the number of exhibiting companies.
According to the study, the number of organizers using sponsorship sales revenue as a KPI (87%) outnumbers those using the total net square footage of exhibit space (71%), representing the increasing blend of financial performance and traditional metrics to define success.
Notably, while 50% or less of mid-sized respondents said they use net square footage of space (48%) and number of new exhibiting companies (50%) as KPIs, a greater portion of large show organizers use these KPIs, 85% and 75%, respectively.
Overall, according to the data, large show organizers focus more on exhibitor-related KPIs when it comes to defining and measuring success than mid-sized show organizers do.
Trends in Sponsorships and Exhibitor Participation
While proving ROI to exhibitors and sponsors remains top of mind, it is a positive sign that 72% of sponsorship sales are repeat business, according to the survey. This signals that sponsors are continuing to see the value of their spend with events in this area.
When it comes to the kinds of sponsorship requests that organizers receive from exhibitors and sponsors, the most popular are:
- Custom sponsorship packages (85%, up from 39% in 2024)
- Thought leadership/speaking sponsorships (84%, up from 61% in 2024)
- Hosted events targeted to specific groups (53%)
- Sponsorships outside the event venue (34%, up from 16% in 2024)
- Request for year-long sponsorships (30%, up from 11% in 2024)
While the demand for customized sponsorship packages continues to grow, a majority of organizers are on board with accommodating these requests. While only 17% of organizers say they “always” accommodate the requests, 56% say they “frequently” do and 25% say they do “occasionally.”
When it comes to exhibitor participation, there are shifts being seen as operational costs continue to be high, and budget strains on exhibitors have forced them to decrease their spend. According to the survey responses, 68% of exhibitors have decreased their spend by an average of 21%.
This decrease is important to note, even though revenue from exhibit space has been on the rise for many shows. This increase can be partially attributed to rising exhibit space costs.
The study’s data shows that large shows are more likely to have increases in their exhibit space costs, revenue from exhibit space and the number of exhibiting companies that participate compared to mid-sized shows.
Registration and Pricing Insights
When it comes to attendee acquisition, 56% of organizers have raised their registration fees, and 45% have seen the number of attendees at their show increase. However, 34% of organizers report that the number of attendees sent per organization has decreased, and that percentage jumps to 43% when only looking at large shows.
With rising costs, incentives are important to get attendees to commit to shows earlier. The survey shows that 93% of organizers offer early-bird discounts, and that 39% of attendees register with these discounts. As for the length of early-bird discounts, the most popular expiration for these is one to two months prior to the show.
AI Adoption in the Trade Show Industry
AI and its use in the industry continues to be a hot topic for leaders as organizations experiment and adopt new ways of working with the technology. When looking at how long AI has been utilized to aid in event production, the survey found that the bulk of organizers have been using AI for 6-12 months (32%) and for less than 6 months (20%). Earlier adopters, those who have been using it for one or more years, only account for 21% of respondents.
The top uses for AI, as reported by survey respondents, were as follows:
- Writing and Content Creation (82%)
- Marketing (59%)
- Support and Customer Service (42%)
- Lead Generation Management (34%)
The impacts of AI adoption and its use cases are already being seen, with organizers saying AI has helped them to see staff save 17% of their time per week, a 10% improvement in sales close rates and a 34% improvement in marketing effectiveness.
And while adoption of AI is continuing to accelerate, policy development is lagging behind. Only 18% of respondents said they have comprehensive policies in place; 31% said there are limited policies in place; 25% said policies are in development; and 26% said there are no formal AI policies at their organizations.
Breaking down the data further, large show organizers are more likely to have AI policies in place than mid-sized organizers.
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