Photo courtesy of ibtm world

The annual ibtm Trends Watch report, released Tuesday at ibtm world in Barcelona, has predicted a bright year ahead for the meeting and event industry, thanks to a renewed resilience and confidence driven by the past few years of economic and geopolitical instability.

While recognizing that there are still uncertain times ahead, the report points to an industry that is focused on “getting on with business.” This is underpinned by significant optimism among meeting and event professionals as they continue to adapt to the “new normal,” embracing new technologies and investing in staff, communications, knowledge and relationships to secure their future and thrive.

Rob Davidson, managing director of Mice Knowledge, and Alistair Turner, managing director of EIGHT PR & Marketing, compiled the report using more than 25 key sources of existing industry data and interviews with industry luminaries to deliver a concise synthesis of industry performance in 2017 and predictions for 2018.

“There’s no getting away from the fact that there is still a period of uncertainty ahead, with several evolving and new economic and geopolitical developments continuing to play out across the globe,” Davidson says. “However, our industry is approaching this proactively, continuing to ‘take care of business’ both literally and figuratively, which points to a very positive year ahead.”

Turner adds that it’s “essential that business events professionals continue to discuss and debate the possible impacts of different scenarios in order that they can adapt and react in a considered manner. As we head into 2018 the hesitancy of previous years has been replaced by renewed confidence, manifesting itself as a more responsible and positive industry that increasingly operates without borders.”

Kerry Prince, portfolio director at ibtm, said that as “we’re in a period of change and uncertainty, this year more than ever our ibtm Trends Watch report is a useful tool for meeting and event professionals looking for a concise evaluation of the global events market and forecasting for 2018.”

Click here to download the IBTM World Trends Watch 2017 report.