Event Planners

The short answer Generative AI has moved to the front of the MICE procurement funnel, ahead of the RFP — and most destination management companies cannot see it happening. The Northstar Meetings Group/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey of more than 1,000 corporate, association and agency planners found 65% of planner organizations already using generative AI platforms, with another 13% saying they will be soon — yet only 16% report significant improvements to planning outcomes so far (Northstar/Cvent PULSE, December 2025 wave, published 2026). In Asia-Pacific, planner adoption jumped from 43% to 75% in a single year (Gevme, 2026), and the EMEA Q2 2026 PULSE wave reports adoption still accelerating, with planners citing measurable gains in efficiency, content creation and event planning support (Northstar/Cvent PULSE EMEA, Q2 2026). ...

The short answer Three-quarters of event planners now use AI in their venue sourcing process, according to Cvent’s 2026 Global Planner Sourcing Report (survey of 1,650 event professionals, published July 2026) — applying it to finding and selecting venues, analyzing attendee data for fit, and comparing bids. More than 60% expect to increase their AI use further this year. That means the shortlist for your next corporate program, incentive trip or conference is increasingly drafted by a model, not a person. And with GBTA’s 2026 Business Travel Index (August 2026) forecasting a record $1.71 trillion in global business travel spending for 2026, the contracts being decided this way are the richest in industry history. If your venue, DMC or destination content isn’t machine-citable — structured, factual, fresh and findable — you are not losing the pitch. You are being excluded from it before it happens. ...