In 2026, the strongest events are built around AI co-pilots, unified tech stacks and first-party data. They use predictive analytics, hyper-personalisation, immersive AR/VR and phygital hybrid formats to shape better experiences, then back it up with micro-events, wellbeing, accessibility and circular sustainability. They also tighten sponsorship, reporting and resilience through multi-metric ROI, smarter ticketing, subscription-style access and agile pricing, turning events into engines for leads, trust and long-term customer relationships.
Have you noticed how planning an event now feels a bit like being pulled in two directions at once?
On one side, your attendees want everything: Netflix-level personalisation, immersive screens, meaningful networking, wellness, purpose, and sustainability. On the other hand, your finance team wants one thing: proof. Not “the room felt busy,” but actual numbers on leads, pipeline, retention, and brand impact.
That’s the 2026 reality. Events are no longer “just experiences”. They’re strategic marketing tools, data engines, and trust builders. And the organisers who win are the ones who design with ROI, relationships, and real human connection in mind from day one.
WHY DOES 2026 FEEL SO DIFFERENT FOR EVENT PLANNERS?
Let’s clear this up before we move on to the event industry trends.
2026 feels different for event planners because the job isn’t just “put on a great show” anymore; it’s to prove hard ROI, use AI and data smartly, run hybrid/phygital experiences, stay truly sustainable, and still deliver a human, high-touch connection.
You’re no longer planning one big event; you’re managing a year-round marketing, content, and community engine under tighter budgets and higher expectations.
The global events market is still growing fast, valued at roughly £1.1 trillion in 2025 ($1.48 trillion) to £2.6 trillion ($3.47 trillion) and projected to more than double by 2033.
At the same time:
- AI is moving from “gimmick” to genuine co-planner.
- Sustainability and ethics now influence buying decisions for around 80–88% of consumers.
So your job is no longer just to “put on a good event”. It’s to design a strategic asset that marketing, sales, HR and leadership can all point to when they talk about pipeline, hiring, retention or brand.
The 15+ trends below are the clearest signals of where that shift is going and how to turn it to your advantage.
TREND 1: AGENTIC AI, FROM HELPFUL TOOL TO EVENT CO-PILOT
AI is moving from “helping you write things” to quietly running chunks of the event lifecycle, saving time and improving decisions.
In 2024–25, we saw the rise of generative AI: tools helping with copy, emails, and basic content. By 2026, the more interesting shift is “agentic AI”, systems that don’t just suggest, but actually do work for you. Most event trend reports now describe AI as the ‘event co-pilot’ for 2026.
The big change isn’t just text generation; it’s AI agents that can:
- Build draft agendas based on goals, personas and past performance.
- Answer live attendee questions in-app and flag gaps in your comms.
- Score leads for sponsors and route them straight into CRM.
- Generate post-event reports before you’ve even packed the flight case.
A recent industry snapshot suggests that around 80%of planners are experimenting with AI, but only a small fraction feel they’re using it at an advanced level.That gap is an opportunity, basically.
How it improves ROI?
- Fewer manual hours: On admin, so your team can focus on programme, sponsors and stakeholders.
- Better, faster decision: Because you’re working from live data, not last year’s hunches.
- Cleaner follow-up: AI-filtered leads reach sales while intent is still warm.
For event production partners, this also means tighter, data-fed show control, using AI-informed run sheets, content triggers, and fail-safes to keep things smooth on the day.
TREND 2: REGIONAL EVENT PORTFOLIOS INSTEAD OF ONE BIG “TENTPOLE”
Many brands are shifting away from a single mega-conference and building a portfolio of smaller, regional events.
Travel patterns, budgets, and audience expectations are changing. Instead of pouring everything into one global show, more organisations are running:
- Regional roadshows
- City-based clinics and roundtables
- Sector-specific micro-events tied to one umbrella programme
Smaller events make it easier to run formats like “bring-your-data” workshops, peer problem-solving circles, and C-level lunches, things that are hard to do meaningfully at a 5,000-person expo.
How it improves ROI
- Lower risk: one disruption doesn’t wipe out your entire annual event plan.
- Deeper conversations: more targeted audiences, higher-quality leads.
- Better first-party data: intimate settings make people more willing to share real challenges, timelines, and buying intent.
TREND 3: EVENTS AS FIRST-PARTY DATA ENGINES
Registration, attendance and interactions are now treated as your most valuable marketing dataset. As third-party cookies disappear and privacy rules tighten, events are becoming prime first-party data generators.
Every interaction around your event says something:
- Registration choices, role, industry, interests.
- Session attendance, what problems they care about right now.
- Exhibitor and sponsor interactions, who they might buy from.
- Polls, questions and surveys, where the market is heading.
Analysts highlight that the events market is not just growing in revenue, but in strategic value as companies hunt for reliable, owned data sources.
How It Improves ROI?
- Every event becomes a long-term data asset, not a one-off cost
- Lead follow-up is sharper (“You attended the hybrid AV session” beats “You came to our event”)
- Product and marketing teams get live feedback loops instead of waiting for annual surveys
To get full value, the event platform needs to plug into your CRM and marketing tools, and your AV/production partner needs to capture engagement (Q&A, polls, attendance) reliably on the day.
TREND 4: PREDICTIVE BUDGETING AND RISK-AWARE FORECASTING
Budgeting is moving from “hope for the best” to data-driven forecasting and contingency planning. In 2026, smarter planners are:
- Using historic data + market trends to forecast venue, F&B and AV costs
- Building realistic contingency buffers instead of “finger-in-the-air 5%”
- Comparing scenarios (single large conference vs three regional hubs, in-person vs hybrid)
Newer platforms and AI tooling can analyse previous events plus current market data to predict likely costs for venue, AV, catering and staffing.
Add to that a fresh focus on operational resilience:
- Offline check-in backups
- Local copies of key content
- Redundant playback and streaming routes
- Clear runbooks if something goes down
HOW THIS IMPROVES ROI?
- Fewer nasty surprises, you can justify a realistic contingency to finance before contracts are signed.
- Less waste, seating, catering and staffing are sized to actual registration and late-booking patterns.
- Lower risk of reputational damage if a platform fails or connectivity drops.
This is where experienced technical partners matter: EMS Events, for example, can design redundant AV and streaming plans that you can scale back without hurting impact.
TREND 5: CIRCULAR DESIGN AND SUSTAINABILITY AS A CORE LOGIC
Sustainability has moved from “nice paragraph in the brochure” to a hard requirement for many attendees, sponsors and procurement teams.
Today’s audiences, especially younger ones, actively look for brands and events that take sustainability seriously. Recent surveys show that over half of consumers say environmental responsibility is very or extremely important when choosing a brand, and many are willing to pay more for sustainable options.
Events are responding by:
- Reusing stage sets, scenic elements and structures across programmes
- Favouring LED video walls and efficient lighting over wasteful printed backdrops
- Designing builds that can be repaired, re-skinned or repurposed
- Choosing local suppliers and low-waste catering options
How it improves ROI?
- Lower long-term production and materials spend
- Easier stakeholder buy-in when your event supports ESG goals
- Higher attendee and sponsor loyalty for values-aligned experiences
We at EMS Events are investing in long-life kits, low-energy LED and efficient logistics to reduce waste without sacrificing production value.
TREND 6: HYPER-PERSONALISED, ATTENDEE-LED JOURNEYS
Attendees expect the event to adapt to them, not the other way round.
Netflix, Spotify, TikTok, most of your audience lives inside recommendation engines. They now expect the same from events:
- Suggested sessions based on role, sector and behaviour
- “People you should meet” lists seeded by interest, not random chance
- Content replays are sent after the event based on what they actually attended
Tech and event studies show that attendees value technology that makes it easier to consume events, not just shiny features. AI-enhanced personalisation is one of the strongest themes in 2026 experiential trend reports.
How it improves ROI?
- Higher session attendance and engagement.
- Better feedback and NPS, people feel “seen.”
- Stronger lifetime value: personalised follow-up keeps them in your ecosystem.
From a production point of view, this often means multiple breakout environments, flexible staging, and reliable streaming so you can serve different segments without diluting quality. You don’t need to overcomplicate it. Even simple tracks (e.g., “Marketing leaders”, “Ops & IT”, “People & Culture”) plus personalised reminders can transform how curated your event feels.
TREND 7: SPATIAL COLLABORATION, XR AND “FIRST-LOOK” EXPERIENCES
Extended Reality (XR), AR and virtual showrooms are moving from gimmicks to practical tools, especially for complex products.
Industries like engineering, healthcare, energy and property are embracing:
- VR/AR demos instead of shipping heavy or sensitive equipment
- Digital twins of venues or assets for remote walkthroughs
- Remote experts “present” via high-quality video links or XR to talk through details live
The boom in virtual and hybrid formats since 2020 has evolved into a more mature XR market, with global virtual events alone worth almost £74 billion ($100 billion) in 2024 and growing fast.
How it improves ROI?
- Saves transport, insurance and set-up costs for large equipment
- Creates “wow” moments that attendees remember and share
- Unlocks access for remote stakeholders who can’t travel but influence decisions
Here, professional AV, LED video walls and show control matter. A poorly executed XR demo can do more damage than no demo at all.
TREND 8: “FESTIVALISATION” OF B2B EVENTS AND HUMAN-CENTRIC DESIGN
Even corporate events are borrowing from festivals, with more choice, more atmosphere, and more focus on how people feel in the space.
Festivalisation doesn’t mean turning your conference into Glastonbury. It means:
- Mixing formats: keynotes, clinics, debates, live podcasts, fireside chats
- Designing sound, light and scenic elements as part of the narrative, not afterthoughts
- Including wellbeing zones, quiet areas and informal lounges
- Creating “choose-your-own-adventure” paths through content
How it improves ROI?
- People stay longer, attend more sessions, and have more meaningful conversations
- Events start to feel like “can’t miss” experiences, not just obligations
- Happy attendees turn into advocates, sharing photos, clips and recommendations
This is where local London-based event production partners like EMS Events help with festival-style stage set design and build, dynamic lighting, and LED video wall hire can transform standard hotel rooms into something that actually feels alive.
TREND 9: LATE REGISTRATIONS AND AGILE PRICING
Attendees are booking later, so organisers need flexible pricing and operations that can cope with last-minute surges.
Across sectors, buying behaviour has shifted: people wait longer to commit. That means:
- Traditional early-bird → standard → last-chance models are under pressure
- More emphasis on value-based messaging (“what you’ll get if you join now”)
- Heavier use of last-minute channels (SMS, app notifications, social) to fill rooms
Dynamic pricing and flexible ticket options are increasingly common, inspired by airline and hotel models.
How it improves ROI?
- Smarter pricing can increase average revenue per attendee.
- Agile operations (AV, staging, seating) reduce waste from over-ordering.
- Late-bookers often respond to stronger packages (team passes, premium add-ons).
Technically, this demands AV and staging that scale, extra screens, overflow rooms, and hybrid viewing, without compromising quality at the last minute.
TREND 10: ACCESSIBILITY AS A REAL KPI, NOT A FOOTNOTE
Accessibility is now a design requirement and a metric in its own right. Modern events treat accessibility as a core quality standard, including:
- Live captioning and transcripts for talks.
- Step-free layouts and clear signage.
- Quiet rooms and sensory-friendly spaces.
- Screen-reader-friendly digital platforms and booking flows.
Accessibility also overlaps with hybrid: virtual access can open doors for people who can’t travel or tolerate long days in busy venues.
How it improves ROI?
- Expands your addressable audience (and sponsor reach).
- Reduces legal and reputational risk.
- Creates reusable, searchable content from transcripts and recordings.
TREND 11: BLOCKCHAIN TRUST LAYERS AND SECURE ACCESS (STILL NICHE, BUT GROWING)
A minority of events are experimenting with blockchain for identity, ticketing and data security, especially in regulated sectors.
Web3 and blockchain are not core to every event. But in sensitive environments (financial services, healthcare, high-stakes B2B), we’re starting to see:
- Tokenised tickets or passes that are harder to fake.
- Smart contracts for revenue sharing on sponsored content or co-created IP.
- Auditable trails for how attendee data is stored and used.
How It Improves ROI
- Reduces fraud and resale issues for high-value tickets
- Simplifies complex sponsorship or partner revenue models
- Builds trust with compliance and security teams who need transparency.
If you’re not in a heavily regulated space, you may never need blockchain for your events. But it’s worth being aware of, especially if your audience includes Web3-native brands.
TREND 12: FROM ROI TO ROO, ROE AND ROR
Money still matters, but events are now reported against a wider set of outcomes: objectives, engagement and relationships.
Event leaders are broadening how they define success:
- ROI, revenue vs cost
- ROO (Return on Objectives), did we achieve strategic goals (e.g. launch, recruitment, education)?
- ROE (Return on Engagement), depth of participation and content consumption
- ROR (Return on Relationships), quality and longevity of new connections
This mirrors a wider business trend: boards and execs want events to support long-term brand and customer health, not just short-term sales spikes.
How it improves ROI? (ironically)
- Makes it easier to defend and grow budgets, even in longer sales cycles
- Aligns events with HR, product and brand teams, not just marketing
- Encourages formats that build real loyalty instead of shallow reach
Your AV and production decisions feed into ROE and ROR: people remember how the room felt, whether they could see and hear clearly, and whether they enjoyed being there.
TREND 13: PLATFORM CONSOLIDATION AND THE END OF SPREADSHEET CHAOS
Teams are moving away from 8–10 separate tools and choosing integrated platforms with clean data flows.
In 2026, many planners are tired of:
- One tool for registration
- Another for the app
- Another for streaming
- A folder full of spreadsheets tying it all together
They’re consolidating into platforms that handle registration, onsite, app, streaming and analytics in one place, and plug into CRM tools like Salesforce or HubSpot.
How it improves ROI?
- Less time reconciling data from different systems
- Fewer opportunities for lead loss and human error
- Cleaner reporting, easier to show what actually happened
On the day, that also means fewer integration points to go wrong. Your AV partner just needs a solid, proven connection between the event platform and the room technology.
TREND 14: COMMUNITY CO-CREATION AND AUDIENCE AS COLLABORATOR
The most memorable events now treat the audience as co-creators, not just ticket holders.
Examples you’ll see more of:
- Crowdsourced topics and Q&A ahead of the event.
- Community voting on sessions, case studies or live demos.
- Attendee-led meetups, roundtables and small group formats.
- Influencer and customer stories are woven into the main agenda.
How it improves ROI?
- People who help shape the event are more likely to show up, engage and return.
- User-generated content (UGC) extends your reach without extra ad spend.
- Sponsors value events with highly engaged, vocal communities.
Strong production helps you capture and showcase these contributions, from high-quality recordings of panels to neat edits of live polls and discussions.
TREND 15: HOLISTIC WELLNESS AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Events are starting to measure not just attendance, but energy: how fresh, focused and ready to act people feel.
Wellness programmes in companies are linked to 20–30% productivity gains and lower absenteeism. Events are borrowing those lessons, using:
- Thoughtful scheduling (no 8 am keynote after a late awards dinner)
- Real breaks, movement, daylight and quiet zones
- Nutritious catering instead of sugar crashes and caffeine overload
How it improves ROI?
- More alert audiences = better retention of key messages
- Higher quality networking, people actually have the headspace to talk
- Stronger association between your brand and “I feel good when I’m here.”
Lighting, audio levels and room layout all influence how “heavy” or fresh a day feels. A good production team will think about this alongside the usual technical specs.
TREND 16: HYBRID AS A CONTINUUM, NOT A CHECKBOX
Hybrid is no longer “we’ll stick a camera at the back and stream it”. It’s a flexible mix of in-person, live online and on-demand.
Demand for virtual access is still high, especially for global or time-poor audiences. Virtual events alone are predicted to keep growing strongly this decade.
Practical formats include:
- In-person main day + virtual pre-day or post-day.
- In-room experience for VIPs, plus high-quality stream for remote teams.
- Watch parties at regional offices using an LED video wall hire to bring the event to life locally.
How it improves ROI?
- Extends reach beyond venue capacity
- Offers new products: replay passes, team access bundles, learning libraries
- Provides more data points on what content works
EMS Events already supports hybrid and virtual events for London clients, combining studio-style delivery, multi-camera setups and reliable streaming to keep both audiences connected.
TREND 17: EVENTS AS YEAR-ROUND CONTENT AND COMMUNITY FLYWHEELS
Smart organisers design every session as content that can live on long after the event.
Instead of letting the value evaporate when the lights go down, they:
- Turn keynotes into gated videos for lead generation.
- Slice panels into short clips for social media.
- Convert breakout discussions into written guides or case studies.
- Host post-event “debrief” webinars using the same speakers.
How it improves ROI?
- A single event supports months of marketing and sales content.
- Each clip or article drives new interest in the next edition.
- Sponsors and partners see longer-tail value from their involvement.
High-quality recording and capture are essential for this. If you know you’ll reuse content, you brief your AV and production partner differently from day one.
TREND 18: SPONSORSHIP ARCHITECTURE AS A CORE REVENUE ENGINE
Sponsorship is becoming the main revenue driver for many events, not just an add-on.
Sponsors now expect:
- Clear audiences and tight positioning (“Heads of Events in FTSE-250 companies”, not “general business people”)
- Activity linked to outcomes (hosted meetings, workshops, content, not just logo walls)
- Hard data on impressions, leads and influence
Industry reports show organisers are building more advanced sponsorship packages with mixed physical and digital inventory.
How it improves ROI?
- Diversifies income so you’re less dependent on ticket sales
- Enables higher production values because costs are shared with partners
- Encourages formats (roundtables, clinics, live demos) that attendees actually find useful
Production quality is part of the sponsor experience: if their session looks and sounds great, it’s far easier to justify renewing at a higher tier next year.
TREND 19: OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE AND OFFLINE BACKUPS
With so much riding on tech, serious organisers now plan for failure as carefully as they plan for success.
That includes:
- Offline check-in options and printed attendee lists
- Local copies of slides and videos in case connectivity drops
- Clear playbooks for switching to backup equipment or simplified formats
- Contingency lighting and audio plans if a key unit fails
How it improves ROI?
- Avoids catastrophic issues that damage reputation and cost refunds
- Reassures risk-sensitive clients, sponsors and venues
- Keeps the focus on content and connections, even when something breaks
EMS Events’ central London warehouse and 24-hour support line exist largely for this reason; if something unexpected happens, extra kit and engineers are close at hand.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: TURNING TRENDS INTO A PRACTICAL 2026 PLAN
You don’t need to implement all 19 trends at once. The most effective event teams in 2026 tend to:
- Pick a core focus, e.g., “data engine + regional portfolio”, or “festivalisation + sponsorship ROI”.
- Upgrade the basics, reliable AV, clear audio, good sightlines, and robust hybrid setups.
- Layer in smart changes, an AI assistant here, a better content reuse plan there, a more honest sustainability story.
- Measure more than money, track ROO, ROE and ROR alongside revenue, so you can defend and grow your programme over several years.
If you’re planning events in London or across the UK and want support with the technical side, from audio visual hire and LED video walls to hybrid & virtual events and full event production, EMS Events can help you turn these trends into something real on show day.And even if you start small, one AI workflow, one regional offshoot, one better-designed stage, you’ll already be moving your events from “experience-first” to impact-first in a way your attendees, sponsors and leadership can all see in the numbers.
