Association meetings are under sustained pressure from declining attendance, international participation challenges and rising costs. New data from ASAE reveals how planners and associations are rethinking the meeting — and why the organizations adapting fastest are finding opportunity where others see only headwinds.

The meeting is still the most powerful thing an association does. Nothing else — not the newsletter, not the webinar, not the member portal — replicates the density of connection, learning and commerce that happens when an industry gathers in one room. But that room is getting harder to fill.

According to the 2026 State of the Association Sector Report from ASAE, the Center for Association Leadership, meetings remain the single most financially troubled program area across the sector. Among the 38.5% of associations reporting some degree of financial decline, a staggering 68.83% cite meetings revenue as a contributing factor — making it the most frequently named source of loss, ahead of membership (64.93%), sponsorship (46.75%) and donations (22.07%).

The story is not simply one of decline, however. Read closely, the data reveals a sector that is adapting by adjusting formats, pricing, geography and content strategy in real time. While the situation for meeting professionals is more challenging than many would like, it also is a bit more nuanced than the headlines suggest.

Attendance: Improving, But Still Soft

The most closely watched meetings-related metric tends to be overall attendee participation, and here the trend is moving in the right direction, albeit slowly. In 2026, 41.6% of associations reported decreasing attendee numbers. That sounds alarming at first glance, but in fact it represents meaningful progress: in 2025, the figure was an even 50%.

Year-over-year shift. Attendee participation, while still declining, did show an 8.4-point improvement compared to last year. The share reporting increases rose by 3.2 points in the same period. Attendees remain the only audience category without a majority selecting “stayed the same.”

Other audience segments are faring somewhat better. Associations reported that speakers, exhibitors and sponsors all were declining at lower rates than attendees, with the majority of respondents indicating those categories held steady year over year. Sponsors were affected a bit more than speakers or exhibitors, with 24.1% of associations reporting sponsor declines in 2026, compared with roughly 22% each for speakers and exhibitors.

Overall, the total share of associations reporting any audience decline improved by 8.9 percentage points year over year. It is a cautious, but real, sign of progress.

As the report states, “Meetings are where associations prove their value. Every empty chair is a question mark about whether that value is being delivered.”

The International Attendance Crisis

If domestic attendance trends offer modest encouragement, the international picture is considerably more complicated. It also carries significant implications for any association with global reach or ambitions.

More than half of association respondents (58%) reported declining attendance from Canada in 2026, up a dramatic 26.6 percentage points from 31.4% in 2025. Declining attendance from Europe and Central Asia was reported by 32% of associations, up 13.4 points from 18.6% the prior year. There was no world region in which respondents did not report at least some degree of decline.

The top challenges named by respondents in this area are visa difficulties, travel restrictions and a growing reluctance to travel to the United States. Associations serving globally connected industries are finding that the U.S. no longer automatically reads as a neutral, welcoming destination for international professionals.

There is a nuance worth noting: while more associations are reporting international declines, the depth of those declines has actually improved. Canada’s average decline dropped by 7.49 percentage points from 2025 to 2026, and Europe’s fell by a more substantial 15.84 points. In other words, more groups are affected, but the damage is less severe on average than it was a year ago.

Relocation: A Rising Consideration

For years, the question of moving a U.S.-based meeting to an international venue was largely theoretical for most associations. That calculus is shifting. While the overwhelming majority of respondents (87.9%) said they are not considering relocating their meeting outside the United States — a figure that actually increased 3.9 points from 2025 — the share seriously considering relocation nearly doubled, rising from 5% in 2025 to 8.9% in 2026.

For those exploring relocation, Canada remains the top candidate, with the number of respondents naming it more than doubling from seven to 15 between surveys. Europe grew from six respondents to 10. And whereas in 2025 only Canada, Europe and Latin America were under consideration, by 2026 every included world region had at least some traction as a potential alternative venue geography.

Top 5 Challenges Planners Are Navigating

ASAE asked association leaders to describe their top meeting-related challenges in open-ended responses, which were then categorized and ranked by frequency. The results span operational realities and geopolitical headwinds alike.

Attendance and Participation Issues. These include declining overall attendance, difficulty attracting new attendees and reduced international participation.

Financial Constraints. These range from reduced travel budgets among members to cuts to professional development funding to broad economic uncertainty.

International Challenges. Top concerns include visa difficulties and denials, travel restrictions and a reluctance to travel to the U.S.

Rising Operational Costs. Costs are rising, with the biggest pain points being food & beverage inflation, higher AV expenses and overall event cost escalation.

Political and Social Concerns. Association executives named several political and social concerns, including the impact of the current U.S. political climate, state-specific legislation issues and social tensions tied to event locations.

Top 5 Opportunities — For Those Who Are Looking

The same open-ended responses that surfaced those challenges also yielded a compelling list of opportunities. Notably, respondents identified potential in both in-person and virtual/hybrid formats simultaneously — a signal that the most strategically agile associations are not choosing between modalities but thoughtfully deploying each where it creates the most value.

In-Person Gatherings and Networking. Among the positives: Desire for face-to-face interaction remains strong; networking value is irreplaceable; and community bonds deepen in person.

Adapting to Hybrid and Virtual Models. Association execs said they were leveraging virtual platforms to expand reach, improving online event experiences, and providing regional and local event formats to make the most of hybrid and virtual meeting options.

Growth and Expansion Opportunities. These include international expansion into new markets, diversifying the sponsor base and attracting new categories of attendees.

Education and Professional Development. The pluses here for associations are their ability to provide industry-leading content as a differentiator, compliance and regulatory resources, and responses to rapid change in member industries.

Addressing Current Challenges Head-On. They also identified correcting misinformation, advocacy and policy influence and fostering member resilience in volatile environments as key strategies for addressing their top challenges.

How Associations Are Responding: Key Actions

Despite the pressure, only about 29% of associations reported actively changing their meetings strategy in 2026 — nearly identical to the 31% who did so in 2025. But among those who are acting, the changes are substantive. Respondents described adjustments across six categories.

Location Strategy

-Shifting toward more local and regional programming

-Targeting more affordable U.S. cities

-Selecting cities that align with organizational values

-In some cases, moving events outside the U.S.

Financial Adjustments

-Reduced meeting budgets

-Adjusted pricing and registration strategies

-Trimming food & beverage orders

-Cutting non-essential costs

Event Format Changes

-Shortened meeting durations

-Fewer, larger events vs. many smaller ones

-Increased single-day attendance options

-Smaller physical footprints

Content & Programming

-Focus on content relevant to the broadest membership

-Increased B2B opportunities within events

-Deprioritizing politically sensitive topics

Sponsor & Exhibitor Strategy

-Diversifying the sponsor base

-Flexible pricing for longtime exhibitors

-More flexible sponsorship tiers and options

-Redesigning expo floor experiences

Long-Term Planning

-Delaying some meeting decisions pending clarity

-Greater emphasis on local and regional programming

-Evaluating more affordable venues for future cycles

Special Measures for International Participants

For associations committed to maintaining global engagement despite headwinds, several targeted measures have emerged. Organizations are reaching out to non-U.S. regulatory agencies to broaden their programs’ international relevance. Some are showing flexibility for government speakers who face travel restrictions. Others are helping international attendees navigate accommodation challenges or temporarily waiving no-virtual-presentation policies for members who cannot enter the country.

The idea is to signal to international communities that the association sees them as essential — not optional — participants in the industry’s conversation. That signal may prove more durable than any single year’s attendance figures.

Welcome to the Stress Test

The data from ASAE’s 2026 report does not describe a crisis so much as a prolonged stress test. Meetings are under pressure from multiple directions simultaneously — economic, geopolitical and structural.

According to the report, the associations thriving in this environment are doing more than simply cutting costs or shrinking their footprint. They are asking harder questions about what their meeting’s purpose is, who it is for, and whether the current format is the best way to deliver that value. Some are finding that a smaller, more focused event outperforms a larger one that tries to be everything to everyone. Others are discovering that a hybrid or regional model reaches members who would never make it to a national conference.

The meeting is not going away. But its form, its geography and its value proposition are all being renegotiated. The planners and association executives who engage that renegotiation deliberately — rather than reactively — are the ones most likely to come out ahead.

Source: The State of Associations: Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Authority. ASAE, The Center for Association Leadership, 2026. Survey data reflects pulse polls conducted February 2026 (216 respondents, VPs and above), spring 2025 (210 respondents, CEOs/Executive Directors), and spring 2025 financial poll (223 respondents, CEOs). Response rates ranged from 3.45% to 7.4%.

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