Ellie Ashton-Melia, community director for the event sustainability body, isla joined The Business of Events, Tourism Ireland and a group of senior leaders to delve into the findings of our 2025 International Planner Sentiment Report. Here, she shares her thoughts on the analysis and the conversations around the table and beyond.
It’s always interesting to hear what’s rising or falling in priority for event planners across the UK, Europe and North America. TBOE’s data reinforces some of the patterns many of us have felt on the ground, but it also surfaces areas we need to pay more attention to.
Here are a few reflections that stood out to me, through the lens of sustainability, access, inclusion and lasting impact. The report also includes findings from North American planners, but in this post, I’ve focused on trends across the UK and Europe, where I’m most active.
Connectivity isn’t just about transport – it’s about audience
Ease of travel continues to rank highly for UK planners, scoring 8 out of 10. But it’s not just about getting from A to B. When infrastructure improves, so does audience reach.
James Rees, Executive Director at ExCeL London, shared a great example of this. Since the Elizabeth Line opened, ExCeL has become faster and more convenient to reach, and it’s opened the doors to a new audience: the public! That’s influenced their thinking about placemaking too, with the Immersive Entertainment District launched, and bigger ambitions to transform car parks (now less in demand) into something much more valuable.
It’s a reminder: better-connected destinations aren’t just more efficient, they’re more inclusive, more experiential, and more versatile.
Can we make slow travel part of the event experience?
The shift away from air travel isn’t just about emissions – it’s about what we can gain in the process.
We spoke about group discounts and incentives, and how models like the Two Together Railcard could be adapted for UK-wide MICE travel. But what if we reframed it entirely?
Sustainable Travel Advocate, Anna Peters made a brilliant point during The Meetings Show, Reckoning session on sustainability: we should treat slow travel as part of the delegate experience. Coaches and trains might just be our most relaxed, low-pressure networking venues yet. It’s less “forced fun”, more space for authentic conversations en route.
Equity and diversity: moving up the agenda, but is it fully embedded?
Equity and diversity climbed up to 10/10 in importance for both UK and EU planners. A strong signal – but we still have work to do.
This isn’t just about representative line-ups. It’s about creating environments that celebrate the destination but also welcome, reflect, and respect the identities of everyone who attends.
Learn Tourism TEA model – Transformative, Engaging and Accessible offers a clear framework for how tourism and events professionals can engage meaningfully with visitors and local communities from all backgrounds.
If we want to design experiences that resonate, we need to celebrate culture and create space for people to feel they belong.
A positive legacy is more than economic impact
Leaving something behind, beyond the event itself, is a recurring theme in destination conversations.
But legacy can’t just be shorthand for “we brought money into the area.” Are we engaging with the local community before we arrive? Can we fund grassroots initiatives or offer delegates the opportunity to volunteer their time and expertise? Have we taken the time to understand and respect the cultural context of the place we’re in?
VisitBritain Business Events Legacy and Impact Toolkit helps destinations understand how a positive legacy can be incorporated into business events for better collaboration of knowledge, stronger engagement with local communities and businesses in event destinations.
These are the questions we need to ask if we’re serious about long-term impact. Because legacy isn’t what we say after the event, it’s what we build into it from the start.
Sustainability: now a baseline, not a differentiator?
Sustainability sentiment remained the same this year (UK: 7/10, EU: 8/10). Some might read that as a lack of progress, but I’d argue it shows that sustainability is no longer a USP. It’s expected.
In the EU, policy and legislation continue to push the agenda forward. But globally, frameworks like the GDS-Index help us measure how destinations are truly performing when it comes to sustainability, not just what they say in the bid.
Sustainability can’t be the thing we justify anymore. It has to be the default.
Cost vs value: proving return on different kinds of investment.
Unsurprisingly, “cost and value for money” came out on top for UK planners. But this sits in tension with our ambitions for sustainability, inclusion and access. These things cost, and they’re often the first to go when budgets are squeezed.
But if we want to meet public expectations, to remain relevant, then we need to prove the ROI of doing things differently. Not just in hard numbers, but in audience experience, community impact, and long-term reputation.
There’s lots to unpack in this report – and even more in how we respond to it. I’d love to hear from others working across destinations, venues and large-scale experiences. What are you seeing shift in sentiment, and how are you adapting to meet it?
The full 2025 International Planner Sentiment Report is now available to download here.
The International Planner Sentiment Report was previewed at an exclusive event held at Corrigan’s in London on 24 June, attended by isla (me), Tourism Ireland partners, media, trade associations, VisitBritain, and representatives from DCMS.