New 2027 Event Cost Forecasts Aid Budget Planning
Corporate event planners can use these new indices to anticipate future pricing for meeting space and hospitality services.
Updated on Oct. 28, 2026 in Inflation
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Maritz Global Events and J. Shay Event Solutions have released new indices projecting event costs for 2027. These tools aim to assist operators in planning and budgeting for business meetings and incentive travel.
Why it matters
Rising costs for meeting space, food, and beverage significantly impact corporate travel budgets and event ROI. By providing industry-specific price projections, these indices help businesses forecast future expenditures more accurately.
The new reports utilize data from GBTA, CoStar, and the USDA to track event costs for 2027 against 2026 benchmarks. Maritz Global Events plans to provide ongoing quarterly updates to its index, which also includes historical data for 2025.
The players
Maritz Global Events
A major event management firm that coordinates corporate meetings and incentive travel for large-scale enterprise clients.
J. Shay Event Solutions
A Dallas-based event planning and consulting firm specializing in budget analysis and property partnerships.
The details
Maritz Global Events compiles its index using supplier data sourced from tier-1 cities, focusing on the core expenses of meetings and events. Simultaneously, J. Shay Event Solutions integrates broader economic data from government and industry databases to estimate property-level costs across the country. Operators can use these indices to model potential pricing shifts for meeting space, catering, and related services as they prepare multi-year budgets.
Timeline
2025: Data baseline for Maritz Global Events index.
2026: Benchmark year for cost comparisons in new reports.
Mid-October 2026: Indices were unveiled at the IMEX America Show in Las Vegas.
2027: Forecast period for event costs and service pricing.
Market Landscape
These indices provide a sector-specific alternative to the Consumer Price Index for businesses managing specialized meeting budgets. The releases mirror a growing trend of industry-tailored inflation tracking to better isolate operational volatility from broader economic indices.
Operators should review their 2027 meeting calendars and factor in these projections when negotiating long-term contracts with venues. Monitoring these quarterly updates can help in adjusting procurement strategies to mitigate rising costs for meeting space and hospitality services.
The takeaway
Reliable cost forecasting is essential for maintaining margins as event pricing continues to fluctuate. Operators should bookmark the J. Shay and Maritz quarterly reports to inform contract negotiations and annual budget planning.
Further reading
For broader trends impacting operational costs, visit United States Inflation.
More information
Access the latest projections and methodology via the J. Shay corporate event cost index.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Meetings Today.
Live Poll
Do rising event costs make it harder for you to justify hosting in-person business meetings?
