PRESS RELEASE
FACTS conference reveals procurement's big break as events drive 68% of business travel
27 November 2025 – Flight Centre Corporate's 2025 State of the Market survey revealed events now make up 68% of business travel – and smart procurement teams are turning this shift into their biggest opportunity yet.
- Events now drive 68 per cent of all business travel globally.
- Conferences and events beat customer and supplier meetings for the first time.
- Corporate events have grown year-on-year globally since 2022.
Speaking at the 2025 FACTS conference, Katie Fraser, General Manager Customer and Operations for FCM Meetings & Events, shared how forward-thinking procurement teams are seizing this golden opportunity to become strategic enablers instead of just watching costs.
“Events are powerful tools for building culture, engaging people and driving business results,” Fraser said.
“When events make up most of your travel spend, procurement becomes the game-changer for companies that get it right.”
The shift from conferences being logistics exercises to strategic business investments means procurement's role has evolved. Fraser's session on smarter event sourcing showed how early collaboration between procurement, account managers and event teams delivers better value, reduces risk through proper planning, and creates partnerships that drive real business impact.
“The companies that nail events procurement are seeing the strongest returns from their travel programs,” Fraser highlighted.
“This is about procurement teams becoming opportunity creators, not roadblocks.”
FCM Meetings & Events’ 2025 Trends Report shows that rising expectations and more complex events create golden opportunities for strategic procurement teams to add real value.
The research reveals attendee experience ranks as the top priority for event planners (4.5 out of 5), followed by safety and security, and effective project management – all areas where procurement partnerships can make a huge difference.
The report states service excellence and breakthrough innovation will lead the way over the next five years, noting that event professionals are “juggling multiple roles and responsibilities across different regions and functions with very different needs.”
Fraser’s key winning strategies for procurement teams include:
- Events must start with purpose, and have clear measurable outcomes showing return on investment (ROI) and return on experience (ROE)
- Getting involved early at the planning stage, rather than just handling contracts
- Using long-term event partnerships for better value and investment
- Setting KPIs that focus on teamwork and results, not just cost reduction
- Understanding events as business drivers, not travel extensions.