Meetings and events are increasingly falling under the remit of corporate travel managers, but many organisations lack the systems, data and governance needed to manage them effectively.
That’s according to a new whitepaper from meetings and events platform HeadBox, which draws on insights from global travel managers from companies to examine how companies are currently managing meetings and events programmes.
Global Perspectives: How Travel Managers Are Tackling Meetings & Events highlights a growing disconnect between business travel – which typically benefits from mature technology, structured policy frameworks and real-time reporting – and meetings and events, which often remain fragmented across departments with no single owner responsible for strategy or oversight.
A separate global report from Cvent found that 91% of travel managers are now responsible for meetings and events, despite many lacking the tools and frameworks needed to manage them effectively.
Key findings
Based on in-depth interviews with eight travel managers from global organisations including Microsoft, EY and Fidelity, the HeadBox whitepaper highlights five key challenges facing meetings and events programmes.
1. The Visibility Problem: M&E spend is distributed across teams, tools, and regions, often surfacing only months after an event has taken place – long after any corrective action is possible.
2. Fragmented Ownership: Marketing, HR, EAs, procurement, and regional offices all book venues and suppliers independently, creating inconsistent supplier contracts, eroded buying power, and governance gaps that increase risk across the board.
3. The Compliance Gap: Corporate travel programs operate with strict, data-driven compliance frameworks. Meetings and events rarely do, creating a strategic blind spot that undermines leadership credibility and leaves risk unmanaged.
4. Cultural Resistance to Change: For senior stakeholders and experienced EAs, established processes within events can feel personal. Successful change management requires empathy, champions, and demonstrated value – not top-down enforcement.
5. Undefined Success: Meetings and events are frequently added to travel manager roles without agreed KPIs, benchmarks, or a strategic framework. Without clear metrics, it is impossible to demonstrate value, secure resources, or align with the broader organisational goals.
Andrew Needham, CEO and founder of HeadBox, said organisations need to bring meetings and events into the same strategic conversation as business travel.
“This whitepaper is a call to action. The technology, the expertise and the frameworks exist right now to bring meetings and events into the same strategic conversation as business travel,” he said.
The report also outlines a 12-month KPI roadmap and practical guidance designed to help organisations build a more strategic meetings and events programme.