Delegate expenditure has increased by 75% since 2017 according to a new report published by VisitBritain’s Business Events.
The Delegate Spend Report 2024 revealed that total trip expenditure per business event delegate has risen by 75% since 2017—from £359 to £629 in 2024 (excluding registration fees), driven largely by increased overnight stays and international delegates staying longer, alongside year-on-year inflationary increases.
International delegates have a much higher average spend per delegate than their domestic equivalents (4:1) due to length of stay, with average spend reaching £1,824 for non-European visitors, compared to £872 for Europeans and £328 for UK attendees.
Other key findings from the report include:
- Looking at differences among event types, the average trip spend for association events (£854) is significantly higher than for corporate events (£651), and both types are higher than exhibitions (£326). Incentive trip spend in the UK averages £2,113 per delegate.
- Extending a trip increases spend by a factor of 2.5. Among those who extend their trip for leisure, the average spend is £1,760. Without the extension, the same delegates would have spent £714 on average.
- Intention to return following attendance at a business event is high. 62% of event delegates say they ‘definitely’ hope to return to the city / region for leisure, 60% say ‘definitely’ to attend another business event and 47% say ‘definitely’ to invest or grow business relationships
- The main motive to attend an event is networking/collaboration (64%), followed by learning (53%) and career development (33%).