The IMEX Place Leaders Forum, at the Marriott Frankfurt Hotel, called on convention bureaus, city leaders and venues to reposition business events as a strategic tool for placemaking and economic growth, not just tourism.
The Forum, formerly known as the Policy Forum and redeveloped for this year, drew its strongest attendance to date, with more than 130 participants from across the global meetings industry representing over 60 destinations and venues. They were joined by policymakers from Angola, São Paulo, Reykjavik, Israel, Mexico and Mozambique.
Jane Cunningham, director of European engagement at Destinations International, moderated the Forum alongside facilitator professor Greg Clark. who set out a stark message, arguing that: “business events are a catalytic tool—as conveners, catalysts and embedders of value – and there’s a window of opportunity open right now.” He added that if destinations fail to act, “you don’t just stand still – you go backwards.”
“The old silos between tourism, investment and education are blurring,” he said. “We need a whole-of-place strategy, not separate sector strategies. Place leadership means giving up siloed thinking and adopting a second job description as ‘leaders of place’. The cost of failing to achieve integration is huge.”
Delegates were invited to contribute to a new white paper on place leadership and the destination economy, due for publication this summer.
On Day 2 of the IMEX Frankfurt show industry trends and data report sessions attracted standing room only audiences.
In Future forces: The trends redefining meetings and events, Skift’s Miguel Neves shared state of the industry updates gleaned from the company’s research arm. Although he pointed to political polarisation in parts of the world, he also urged his audience to remember that events are where real dialogue happens. “By their nature, business events are generally open, democratic and welcoming. In an age of increasing distrust of AI slop and work slop, being human and being together has more value,” he said.
In a later session, Tavar James and Conrad Mills from Forrester, offered insights from their 2026 State of Events Industry survey. Although budget constraints remain across the board, they noted that of those organisations classed as ‘high performing’, 63% are opting to produce their own events and reduce involvement in third party events. “These ‘owned’ formats are growing, but they’re also smaller, sub-20 people for focused networking experiences, and sub-200 for attendee-style productions,” James said.
He also pointed to data that he personally finds disappointing –a resurgence of digital events. “My view is that digital is informational while live events are transformational. They are not interchangeable. Going forward Forrester has made the decision to only hold in-person experiences.”
He also cautioned against using lead generation as a single success measure. “75% of CMOs in our study say net new lead generation is their current measure of event success. But not all leads are equal. And events are just one touchpoint in your sales pipeline. They’re emotional; and treating your attendees simply as a lead scanning opportunity misses the point. Take a more thoughtful approach to your KPIs.”
Talking to at the IMEX Research Pod, Kyle Jordan of INFORMS presented Cracking the code: What young professionals actually do on the trade show floor. Using new research from the IAEE Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), he explained how young professionals treat exhibition experiences differently to other demographic groups. “63% of them pre-plan their event experience. They know who they want to meet. They’re coming with an agenda and they’re seeking you out with intention. If you’re the trade show or event owner, then helping them create a journey map in advance is massively important. And they don’t all want an app. Some want to download and print a PDF where they can add their own handwritten notes. Also vital for these next gen attendees are hands-on activities, on-booth learning sessions and great food. They’re on a tight budget so attracting them in with a great F&B offering is a win-win.”
Jordan also reminded his listeners of the role of ‘valued swag’ to this savvy generation. “They’re not looking for cheap, throwaway merchandise. Quite the opposite. Give them something of quality; something they’ll want to use again and again and your brand investment will pay you back multiple times.”
His final piece of advice was to blend curated, open spaces such as lounges with coaching and mentoring services. “They’re eager for career guidance so recognise this and use it to your advantage and build trusted relationships with them,” he said.
IMEX Frankfurt continues until Thursday, 21 May.
