New research: how corporate planners are dealing with budget pressures

A look at what more than 100 in-house corporate planners told Skift Meetings about the current environment ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

Corporate meeting planners are feeling the pinch: 79% say costs have jumped by at least 5% over the past year, but nearly half of them are dealing with budgets that look identical to last year. That’s the starting point of Corporate Meetings in 2026, new research from Skift Meetings in partnership with MPI. We surveyed more than 100 in-house corporate meeting professionals to get a sense of how they’re navigating this year’s biggest challenges, what they’re doing to continue to deliver top-notch experiences, and how they’re working to meet evolving attendee expectations. Download the report today to learn: How geopolitical risk is reshaping destination decisions Why standard ROI metrics no longer satisfy leadership What contract revisions planners should be making to mitigate risk Where AI is genuinely saving time, and where it’s still getting the numbers wrong What planners want their leadership to understand about the value of their work DOWNLOAD THE REPORT This report is in partnership with MPI and sponsored by Caesars Entertainment and Convene Hospitality Group.  Skift, 35 W 31st St., Frnt 1, New York, NY 10001, USA Manage preferences

They still want to be at the meeting. They're just tired of passively learning.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online The Average Attendee Is Now Skipping More Sessions They still want to be at the meeting. They're just tired of passively learning.   David McMillin, Skift Meetings Head of Content September 8th, 2026 Some meetings promote the ability to choose from hundreds of educational sessions, but guess how many of them attendees are actually sitting in? 4.2, according to new research from RainFocus. That’s a drop from the average 5.3 sessions they were showing up for just one year earlier. Andrea Doyle uncovers what’s behind the numbers. Spoiler alert: It’s not just because of AI. It’s because of something that AI actually can’t do. And outside of session attendance trends, today’s issue includes a look at new and improved gaming properties you can place a bet on for your next meeting, the confusing cloud of pharma meeting spend, and a profile of a meetings veteran who decided to do something surprising: head back to college. — David McMillin       Two weeks to Skift Meetings Forum The fix for session fatigue isn't fewer sessions. It's a room where planners work the problem out loud instead of sitting through it. On September 22 at the Javits Center, event leaders from MathWorks, Rotary, FIFA World Cup 26, and SXSW trade playbooks on AI, thin budgets, and the generational shift, in a format built on live tool grading and working roundtables, not lecture slides. Complimentary passes for senior planners are approved on a rolling basis and the room is filling. APPLY TO ATTEND             What Story Can Your Meeting Tell After Everyone Goes Home? Meeting Destination Vienna + Skift Meetings Instead of focusing on the pieces that matter during a meeting — flexible space, hotels, or walkability — one leading destination is increasingly focused on what groups will be able to say once the closing session is over. READ THE STORY             FEATURED STORIES 8 New and Renewed Gaming Resorts  By Barbara Scofidio U.S. gaming resorts keep growing, and group business is one of their main drivers.  GET THE STORY Why Pharma Struggles to Track Its Meeting Spend  By Andrea Doyle The real cost of a pharma dinner at a conference shows up two years later, when a regulator asks a compliance team to reconstruct it, and no one owns the answer. GET THE STORY Why One Meetings Veteran Is Opting to Go Back to School  By Barbara Scofidio Rather than wait until she’s an empty nester to figure out what’s next, Carlin Putman decided to get her master's degree while her kids are still in high school. GET THE STORY Attendees Are Skipping One More Session — Here's What's Filling the Gap By Andrea Doyle AI is going to summarize the session anyway, so attendees are opting out. New research points event organizers toward designing programs around what the machine can't replace. GET THE STORY             WORTH YOUR TIME Five things worth your time today. Take a look at 50 new hotels that could be a fit for your next meeting. Find out why the numbers in all those meeting planner salary surveys always look so different. Get a sneak peek at the leaders who are coming to Skift Meetings Forum in two weeks. Learn why you should be updating your contract terms to avoid dealing with late payments. Update your event photography waiver for new potential issues from facial recognition.             SKIFT PICK: TRANSLATING TRAVEL TRENDS FOR MEETINGS Can the U.S. Be the Most-Visited Destination in the World? Representatives from the travel industry came to the White House for a meeting last week with a bold goal: Get 100 million international visitors to the U.S. by 2030. That number would represent a 46% increase over international visitation numbers from last year and a 25% jump from the country’s pre-pandemic peak. All of it comes at an interesting time, of course, as America’s closest ally is ditching trips south due to a simmering trade war. It’s an ambitious aim, and getting anywhere close to that number will rely on rolling out the red carpet for meeting attendees, too. Over the past 18 months, we’ve seen scientific conferences shun the U.S. and attendees boycott the country, too. At the same time, new research of corporate planners (coming later this week, so watch your inbox) shows that plenty of decision-makers are making the decision to steer clear of the U.S. right now. All of it adds up to one simple reality: If the travel industry is going to get anywhere close to its goal, it’s going to need to get serious about group business, too.             Skift Meetings Toolkit Great events are built on strategy, innovation, and the right resources. The Skift Meetings Toolkit is your go-to hub for best practices in managing meetings and events. EXPLORE THE TOOLKIT             Thanks for being a regular reader. We are switching to a new email platform. Why? This change will allow for better delivery, and more engaging newsletters. Please take a moment to add this new email address to your contacts to ensure you continue receiving your newsletters without interruption. During this transition, these emails might land in your promotions or spam folder. To ensure you don’t miss out, please move this newsletter to your primary inbox.       1    DEFINING THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL. 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