Context Creates Value

This idea has become even more relevant in the age of artificial intelligence. AI systems can only generate meaningful recommendations when the underlying information is structured, machine-readable and linked in a way that reflects real-world relationships. As a result, the key question for event organisers is no longer whether data exists, but how it can be brought together to support better decision-making.

One particularly compelling use case is the connection between a destination's meetings infrastructure and its economic and scientific strengths. When the subject matter of an event aligns with local expertise, the benefits extend well beyond the event itself and create value for organisers, participants and destinations alike.

Recent findings from the Meeting & EventBarometer 2025/2026 show that organisers increasingly recognise the value of a destination's specialist expertise. When asked how they intentionally integrate local expertise into their events, 64% reported initiating collaborations with local research institutions and universities, while 48% actively involve local industry stakeholders in their programmes. These factors also influence destination selection. When traditional considerations such as accessibility, climate, capacity and price are assumed to be equal, European organisers rate the importance of additional destination attributes at an average of 4.2 out of 5. Organisers from the rest of the world rate them even higher, at 4.4.

At the same time, the Research Centre for Future Meeting Studies (rcfms), a joint initiative of the GCB and Fraunhofer IAO, is currently examining destination selection criteria for business events. Its findings will provide further insights into the role that local expertise and industry strengths play in future destination choices.

Even today, however, one thing is already clear: when the topic of an event aligns closely with a destination's areas of expertise, the result is often a more relevant and impactful experience. Local research institutions, companies, innovation hubs and academic networks can contribute as speakers, site visit hosts, knowledge partners or programme contributors, adding meaningful value to the event experience. This goes far beyond choosing a location that can simply accommodate an event. Increasingly, organisers are looking for destinations that can actively contribute to an event's success. Innovation ecosystems, research clusters and industry networks are becoming important considerations when designing events with lasting impact.

Just as organisers and participants benefit from access to local expertise, destinations themselves can gain substantial long-term value from hosting strategically aligned business events. Among the potential benefits are:

• Connections with experts from around the world can stimulate innovation, accelerate technological development and contribute to scientific progress within the destination.
• Local expertise showcased through presentations, workshops, panel discussions or technical visits can attract future talent and strengthen the destination's knowledge economy over time.
• High-profile events provide local professionals, students and young talents with valuable opportunities to learn from leading experts and expand their professional networks without the need for extensive travel.
• Increased visibility through nationally or internationally recognised industry events can attract investment and support the growth of key future-oriented sectors.

As a result, business events are increasingly evolving into strategic platforms for knowledge exchange, innovation and regional development. Their value is no longer measured solely by visitor numbers, hotel stays or economic impact. They can also bring together stakeholders from business, science, government and society, generating momentum for the long-term development of a destination.

This perspective has gained increasing attention internationally, shifting the focus towards the lasting legacy that events can create beyond their immediate economic impact. Examples highlighted in the recent IMEX white paper “Place Leadership and the Business Events Sector” demonstrate how destinations are strategically integrating their business events activities into their economic and scientific priorities. Business events are increasingly being used as a tool for strategic destination development. More and more destinations are aligning their bidding and acquisition activities with their research strengths and industry expertise, while connecting events to existing innovation ecosystems. The objective is not simply to attract more events, but to attract those that can contribute to long-term economic, scientific and societal development.

The authors of the IMEX white paper view this alignment of business events with a destination's economic and scientific priorities as a core element of Place Leadership: "Bidding decisions, acquisition priorities and programming choices should be oriented towards priority industrial clusters, research and academic ecosystems, and investment attraction narratives." In other words, events are increasingly moving from stand-alone successes to becoming part of a wider strategic agenda.

To unlock the potential at the intersection of meetings infrastructure and regional expertise, the GCB launched the new Meetings Ecosystem Map (MEM) in summer 2026. The MEM is a data-driven, interactive gateway to Germany's business events landscape. It visualises connections that previously required extensive individual research: the relationship between a destination's areas of expertise and its capabilities as a business events location. By bringing these elements together, the MEM provides a new level of transparency for organisers, helping them assess destinations not only based on infrastructure, but also on their thematic fit.

Initially launched as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) featuring GCB member profiles, the platform will continue to evolve in both depth and functionality. Today, it already includes approximately 4,400 research institutions across Germany.

The MEM illustrates the value that can be created by intelligently linking different sources of information. Data on research institutions, venues, hotels and service providers is already valuable in isolation. Its true potential, however, emerges when the relationships between these different data points become visible. This is where data becomes knowledge. Instead of simply answering the question of where an event can take place, connected data can help explain why a destination may be particularly relevant for a specific topic or field of expertise.

The MEM is one example of how contextualised data can generate meaningful new insights. The same principle also underpins the Open Data MICE initiative, which the GCB is advancing together with the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). The objective of Open Data MICE is to make information from the meetings and events industry available in a structured, standardised and machine-readable format. This is becoming increasingly important in the era of generative AI. AI systems depend on structured data to produce relevant and reliable outputs. When venues, convention centres, hotels, service providers, research institutions and industry expertise are digitally connected, entirely new possibilities emerge for information discovery and decision support.

For organisers, this could dramatically simplify access to relevant information. Instead of manually researching multiple sources, relationships can be identified automatically and recommendations generated more efficiently. For destinations, it creates an opportunity to increase visibility in an increasingly AI-driven information landscape and communicate their unique strengths more effectively. In the future, being discoverable in data-powered search and recommendation systems will require not only compelling content, but also structured and connected data.

The MEM is much more than a new research tool. It represents a broader shift taking place across the business events sector: away from isolated information and towards connected data ecosystems that enable better decisions and create new forms of value. For the GCB, this marks an important step towards a more intelligent and data-driven meeting and conference destination Germany. The better we connect event infrastructure, industry expertise and digital data environments, the greater the benefits for organisers, destinations and, ultimately, participants themselves. The future does not belong to data alone. It belongs to the connections and insights we are able to create from it.