Meeting costs set to rise further in 2026

The cost of staging a business meeting is forecast to keep rising through 2026, with average spend per attendee up 3% to US$263 a day, according to the latest 2027 Global Business Travel Forecast released by GBTA and ALTOUR. It serves as fresh data that puts a price tag on the case behind the US Travel Association's (USTA) Meetings Meet the Moment campaign.

The report projects average global airfares to rise 4.7% to US$756 in 2026, with premium fares up 9.5% to US$4,488, before growth slows to around 1.5% in 2027. Hotel average daily rates are forecast to climb 3.7% to US$168 in 2026, easing to 1.8% growth in 2027. Food and beverage, production and labour costs remain the main drivers of meeting cost inflation, the report said.

Asia Pacific is running hotter than the global average on several measures. Premium airfares in the region are forecast to surge 18.6% in 2026, more than double any other region, while hotel rates are set to rise 5%, the second-fastest pace globally. Asia Pacific car rental rates are forecast to be the world's highest at US$57.70 a day, up 4%.

Business travel remains a powerful indicator of business confidence, according to GBTA chief executive Suzanne Neufang, who said that companies are continuing to invest in face-to-face connections despite higher costs and greater complexity.

The pricing data lands two months after USTA unveiled Meetings Meet the Moment at MPI's World Education Congress in June. Developed with 150 members of USTA's Group Travel Network, the campaign was built on research showing more than half of executives surveyed planned more live events this year than in either of the past two years.

For planners in Asia Pacific, the forecast complicates that pitch: budgets must stretch further even as executives say they want more face time. Costs are not expected to return to 2025 levels even once growth slows in 2027, meaning the case for in-person meetings will increasingly need to rest on value, not price.