83.5% of Incentive Travel Professionals Expect Trade Shows to Maintain or Increase Their Importance

A survey with 747 responses reveals differing priorities among buyers, hotels and tour operators, while 59% of respondents in the Middle East and Africa identify costs as their biggest challenge.

An international survey conducted by the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) found that 83.5% of respondents expect major industry trade shows to maintain or increase their importance over the next three years, despite rising participation costs and the growing use of digital marketing tools.

The SITE PULSE survey, published in November 2026, revealed that 59.5% of respondents expect trade shows to become more important, while 24% anticipate their significance will remain unchanged. Only 3.5% believe their importance will decline.

The survey collected 747 responses in September, with the initial analysis covering 657 participants, including buyers, hotels, suppliers, destination management companies and tourism promotion organisations.

According to the findings, 43.3% of buyers identified strengthening existing professional relationships as the primary benefit of attending trade shows. The figure increased to 52.4% among incentive travel agencies.

In contrast, attracting new clients was the leading priority for 38.7% of hotels and suppliers, 43.4% of destination management companies, and 44.4% of destination marketing organisations and convention bureaux.

Pádraic Gilligan, Head of Research and Consultancy at SITE, explained that buyers and exhibitors may enter the same meeting with different objectives, highlighting the need for a better understanding of each party's expectations.

The survey found that 46.1% of respondents considered costs and budgets the greatest obstacle to achieving value from trade shows, followed by difficulties taking time away from work at 18%, and challenges measuring return on investment at 16.4%.

Cost concerns were particularly pronounced among respondents from the Middle East and Africa, where 59% identified expenses as their biggest challenge, reflecting the financial pressures associated with international travel and exhibition participation.

Meanwhile, only 9.3% of participants selected education and professional development as the most important function of trade shows.

The findings suggest that the success of tourism trade shows should not be measured solely by the number of meetings held or visitors attracted to exhibition stands, but also by the quality of business relationships and opportunities that translate into actual commercial results.

For Arab tourism companies, the research highlights the importance of setting clear participation objectives, identifying suitable buyers, following up on negotiations after events, and measuring resulting contracts and business opportunities against the total cost of attendance.