2026 Event Trends: What Corporate Events Are Actually Growing

The first half of 2026 has seen an interesting shift for the events and hospitality industry, while corporate events overall continue to grow, we’ve seen some event types hold strong compared to others.

Of course, we have to still consider the external factors that continue to have an effect on corporate spending but even with these ongoing influences, there is definitely positive movement from event organisers and still a desire to run events as part of wider business strategy.

This blog will look at the corporate events that are growing, identifying key trends we’re seeing for the remaining year.

Award Ceremonies continue to grow throughout 2026

Towards the end of 2025, Award Ceremonies started to grow and that trend has continued throughout 2026:

• Enquiries up 57% from H1 2025 to H1 2026
• Event value increased by 50%
• Guest numbers were also up by 19%

Growth in this event type, didn’t just grow, it accelerated at a pace that even VenueScanner didn’t predict.

As we move into H2 2026, we expect this corporate event type to continue growing as businesses continue to want to celebrate their employees.

Christmas Parties hold strong with bigger budgets

Christmas parties continue to be an important part of companies' event calendar, whilst Christmas enquiries remain relatively flat YoY, we’re seeing bigger budgets coming through with an increase of 5% in event value compared to 2025.

The key takeaway, whilst businesses are holding fewer events, they’re investing more into the ones they are holding and that is seen in the Christmas party segment.

Fewer people, bigger spend per person

Not every event type is following the Award Ceremony or Christmas Party playbook, and one of the more interesting shifts we’re seeing is in the every day meeting.

• Meeting enquiries held broadly flat, down just 2% YoY
• Average guest numbers per meeting fell 67%, from 112 down to 38
• Average spend per guest was up 59%

Businesses aren’t holding fewer meetings, they’re holding smaller ones and spending more per person to make each one count.

We’re seeing the same shape turn up elsewhere too:

• Team Away Days (guest numbers down 37%, spend per guest up 55%)
• Summer Parties (guest numbers down 25%, spend per guest up 28%) are both following the same pattern.

Organisers are trading scale for intention, running tighter guest lists but creating more of an experience for the people who do show up.

What we predicted at the beginning of the year

At the start of 2026, our State of the UK Events Industry report forecast a year of fewer events with bigger impact. Six months in, here’s how that’s holding up:

• Award Ceremonies: we predicted continued growth and growth has actually accelerated past what we expected
• Christmas Parties: we predicted premium over production and budgets are up 5% on flat enquiry volume, exactly as forecast
• Conferences: we predicted smaller, more editorial events, but average event size has actually held flat this year. Volume is down but the conferences that are happening aren’t shrinking
• Meetings: the one nobody saw coming. Nothing in last year’s data hinted that meeting size was about to fall off a cliff

Not every prediction landed exactly as expected but the broader thesis, fewer events with more intention behind them, is holding up well in the data so far this year.

Key Takeaways

• Award Ceremonies are the fastest-growing corporate event type in H1 2026, with enquiries up 57% and event value up 50% year-on-year.
• Meetings are shrinking with average guest numbers per meeting falling 67% (112 → 38) while average spend per guest rose 59%, smaller groups, bigger budgets per head.
• Christmas Party enquiries held flat year-on-year but event value rose 5% - the same number of parties, with bigger budgets behind them.

Q&As:

Are corporate events shrinking in 2026?

Not in volume terms across the board, but event size is: meetings, team away days and summer parties are all seeing fewer guests per event, with spend per guest rising in each case.

Which corporate event type is growing fastest right now?

Award Ceremonies, enquiries are up 57% and event value up 50% year-on-year, a faster pace of growth than VenueScanner predicted at the start of 2026.

Are companies spending more or less on corporate events?

More per person, even where the number of events is flat or falling. Christmas Parties and Meetings both show rising average spend per guest in H1 2026 compared with the same period last year.