While we hear a lot these days about the impact on scientific, medical and academic meetings of the Trump administration’s freezing or cancelling hundreds of billions of dollars in research grants to top U.S. universities, it’s not just U.S.–based planners feeling the pinch. According to new research by the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers, those policy changes, along with global unrest, conflicts and wars are taking a toll on organizers, venues, and attendees around the world.

The news from the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO) Global Socio-Political Impact Survey of 2025 is sobering: Almost 60% of IACO’s network of professional conference organizer associations and global strategic partners say global unrest and increasing concerns over safety have affected their ability to plan or deliver international events. Almost half, 45%, said the impact was moderate, while 14% said the impact has been significant. A full quarter of respondents reported having to cancel, postpone or relocate events due to instability.

“The report revealed that 57.14 percent of respondents had between 1 to 10 of their client’s venues impacted by global unrest, with 5.95 percent reporting this number was between 11 and 20. To put this into context, in 2024 alone, IAPCO members delivered almost 19,469 events globally,” said IAPCO CEO Martin Boyle. The survey used the Russia/Ukraine conflict, Middle East tensions and Red Sea disruptions as examples of global unrest.

That impact comes with a financial hit, with almost 27% reporting having lost up to $56,000-plus, and almost 15% saying global instability cost them almost $170,000.

Venues also weren’t immune, of course. More than half of respondents had up to 10 client venues affected by global instability; more than 5% reported disruption at up to 20 venues.

The areas most affected by ongoing global conflicts, respondents said, were reduced international attendance (52%), followed by travel disruptions (almost 42%), security concerns at the host destinations (39%), and increasing costs for organizers and/or participants (32%). War and conflict also affected total sponsorship and/or exhibition revenues for more than a quarter of respondents.

What exactly is causing all this disruption from what Boyle called “multifaceted pressures” ranging from logistics to stakeholder confidence?

The two largest challenges related to government policies that are raising a ruckus for meeting organizers globally include changes to visa and immigration policies that affect international attendees (almost 62%) and funding cuts that make it more difficult for academic and scientific experts’ ability to travel (almost 60%). Specifically, almost half, 47%, of respondents said the sweeping reforms implemented by the Trump Administration in the U.S. have affected their ability to plan and implement events. Another 22% said they were “bracing for impact” from those reforms according to the report. Almost 32% said changes in government funding or grants were hitting their budgetary bottom lines. Just over a quarter said recent policy changes have affected their ability to secure event venues, permits or necessary approvals.

Boyle said that IAPCO members are bracing themselves for further impacts, specifically related to the Trump Administration’s freeze on academics and researchers attending conferences. But, he added, “IAPCO members are at the top of their game. Whilst these challenges are biting, members are leaning on each other to innovate.”

And on a more positive note, despite the dip in planner optimism due to macroeconomic uncertainty and rising costs, almost 70% of planners are actively booking or sourcing new events, according to new data from Cvent’s 2025 Planner Sourcing Report, which found that nearly 90% of planners expect the number of in-person meetings to increase in 2025.

Download the full report here.

Image by DC Studio on Freepik