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Costs are up, attendance optimism is down and “favorable” budgets still don’t quite feel like relief. This landscape is forcing event professionals to focus on value and the experience while defending what makes in-person indispensable.
After seeing a positive bump last quarter, overall business projections for the year ahead have slipped back to late 2025 numbers.
Less than half of respondents anticipate positive in-person attendance for the year ahead; one-third expect live attendance to drop.
Even though overall business projections dipped, the outlook for budgets is the most favorable we've seen in more than a year.