Research Centre for Future Meeting Studies Maps Business Events Ecosystem

The process of selecting destinations, venues and service providers for business events is undergoing rapid transformation. Cost efficiency, sustainability, access to reliable data, a high-quality event experience and security are now central to decision-making. “As complexity continues to grow, organisers need objective, data-driven decision-making frameworks. At the same time, suppliers need clear and distinct profiles to compete in the market and provide credible, transparent proof of the value they offer,” says GCB Managing Director, Matthias Schultze. “This is where our new rcfms research comes in. We want to enable all stakeholders in the German meetings and conventions sector to make evidence-based decisions while reinforcing their international competitiveness and profile.”

Integrating Supplier and Organiser Perspectives
The inaugural rcfms project focuses on understanding which factors will shape the future selection of destinations, venues, and service providers. Closely linked is the challenge of systematically capturing, prioritising and translating these selection criteria into decision-making models. Relevant aspects to be explored are sustainability, technology, the use of platforms, value for money considerations and others. “Through our research, we aim to map what makes destinations, venues and service providers stand out as appealing choices, considering both the supplier’s perspective and the factors that guide organisers’ decisions,” explains Dr Stefan Rief, Head of Organisational Development and Work Design Research Unit at Fraunhofer IAO. “Our focus is on harmonised selection processes that boost efficiency, comparability and market visibility.”

Practical Insights for Research Fellows
Over 20 organisations have already signed up as Research Fellows, with opportunities to join still open. Through the research process, Fellows will gain actionable insights to strengthen their market positioning. Suppliers will come away with a clear, evidence-based understanding of the factors that guide organisers’ choices to make their offerings more appealing in the business events ecosystem. This also includes transparent and comparable evaluation metrics to structure selection, positioning and investment decisions with greater clarity. This helps minimise misunderstandings and poor decisions, ensuring expectations are aligned among all stakeholders. At the same time, organisers will be able to implement more efficient and higher-quality scouting and sourcing processes, based on standardised criteria, clearly set priorities and evidence-based decision models.

Eight of the current rcfms Research Fellows have opted to also participate in a so-called Advanced Research Track for more in-depth explorations. Organisations interested in the rcfms trend and foresight research are invited to get in touch with the GCB team.