Corporate Group Business Is Back — And Hotels Are Competing Hard for It

The corporate meetings and events market has completed its recovery from the pandemic years, and the competition for group business is more intense than at any point in the last decade. Hotels that spent 2022 and 2023 rebuilding their events infrastructure are now competing in a market where corporate buyers have more options, higher expectations, and significantly more sophisticated procurement processes than before.

The Scale of the Group Business Recovery

The numbers are compelling. Global corporate meetings spending grew fourteen percent in 2025 to reach its highest recorded level, driven by a combination of pent-up demand, growing corporate budgets, and a recognition among senior business leaders that face-to-face gatherings produce outcomes that distributed digital work cannot replicate. The market for incentive travel, in particular, has surpassed pre-pandemic levels by a significant margin.

What Corporate Buyers Want in 2026

What has changed is the nature of demand. The corporate buyer of 2026 is not simply looking for a venue with enough breakout rooms. They are looking for an experience that justifies the investment, one that provides a compelling reason for their teams to travel rather than dial in. Properties that understand this, and have invested in programming, F&B quality, and technology infrastructure that supports productive off-site work, are finding themselves consistently preferred over competitors with nominally better facilities.

The Hybrid Meeting Requirement

The hybrid meeting requirement, which seemed like a temporary concession to the pandemic era, has proved durable. Corporate buyers expect their meeting venues to support remote participants with a quality of experience that does not make the hybrid attendees feel like second-class participants. The AV and connectivity investments required to deliver this are substantial, and properties that have made them are commanding meaningful rate premiums in competitive tender processes.

Sustainability as a Procurement Criterion

Sustainability is an increasingly material factor in corporate meetings procurement. A growing number of large companies now require their meetings and events spend to demonstrate alignment with their own environmental commitments. Properties with credible, verified sustainability credentials, not marketing claims but third-party certifications and transparent reporting, are winning tenders that their competitors are losing on sustainability grounds alone.

The group business recovery has also driven a reconsideration of the role of dedicated events teams. Properties that had reduced their events and conference staffing during the lean years are finding that the cost of rebuilding that capability, recruiting experienced events coordinators, rebuilding agency relationships, retraining F&B teams on the specific demands of large group catering, is significant. Those who retained their events expertise through the difficult years are reaping a competitive dividend now.

Rate strategy for group business has matured significantly. Revenue management systems that can model the displacement cost of group bookings against transient demand are enabling hotels to quote with greater precision and accept group business that is genuinely accretive to total revenue rather than occupying inventory at below-optimal rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why has corporate group business recovered so strongly after the pandemic?

Corporate group business has rebounded because senior business leaders have recognised that face-to-face gatherings produce outcomes, decision-making speed, team cohesion, relationship development, that distributed digital work cannot replicate at the same quality. Pent-up demand, growing corporate travel budgets, and the proven limitations of fully remote collaboration have combined to drive corporate meetings spending to its highest recorded level in 2025.

What do corporate buyers look for when selecting a hotel meetings venue in 2026?

Corporate buyers in 2026 are primarily looking for venues that justify the investment of bringing their teams together in person. Beyond adequate meeting space, they prioritise hybrid meeting technology that gives remote participants a genuinely high-quality experience, F&B quality that reinforces the value of the gathering, and verifiable sustainability credentials that align with their company's environmental commitments. Properties that have invested in all three areas are winning tenders against competitors with nominally superior facilities.

How should hotels price group business to maximise total revenue?

The most effective approach uses revenue management systems capable of modelling the true displacement cost of group bookings, that is, the transient revenue that would be displaced by committing inventory to a group rate. This allows hotels to quote group rates with precision, accepting business that is genuinely accretive to total property revenue and declining or repricing business that occupies inventory at rates below what transient demand would deliver. Properties with this capability are consistently outperforming those quoting group rates on intuition or historical averages.