Italy’s conference and business events sector generated EUR 13.2 billion in direct economic value in 2025. The industry grew at a compound annual rate of 6.4% between 2022 and 2025. The figures come from the Italian Survey of Conferences and Events, known as OICE.
The survey recorded 365,789 conference and business events held across Italy in 2025. Delegates totalled 28,627,455, while overall attendance reached 43,275,254. The research was conducted by the Graduate School of Economics and International Relations of Università Cattolica, known as ASERI.
The findings were presented at an event titled “The value of the meetings industry: interpreting the future through OICE data”, held at the Confindustria Conference Centre in Rome. The event was promoted by Federcongressi&eventi, Italy’s association for the conference and business events industry.
Federcongressi&eventi President Gabriella Gentile said the sector’s strategic role requires close cooperation with public institutions. “Ours is a strategic sector, which requires ongoing dialogue with institutions focused on developing shared strategies,” she said. She added that this dialogue is needed “to guarantee Italy’s international competitiveness as a conference and events destination” and to help the industry support economic growth, promote local destinations and reduce seasonality in tourism.
The data points to a mature market that is nonetheless changing shape. Conferences and business events, including meetings, conventions and incentive events, are becoming more strategic for clients, who are placing greater emphasis on new formats, updated organisational processes and the use of unconventional venues. Between 2014 and 2025, unconventional venues increased the number of events they hosted at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6%, with growth accelerating to 12.5% a year from 2022 onwards.
Companies remain the primary market for events, accounting for 61.4% of the total, although the association market is expanding and now represents 24.4% of events. The origin of participants is also shifting. National events fell from 39.4% of the total in 2024 to 32.3% in 2025, while local events rose from 47.2% to 54.8% over the same period. International events held steady at 12.9%, a slight dip from 13.4% in 2024 but still above the 9.8% recorded in 2019.
Northern Italy remains the country’s conference hub, home to 53.4% of venues and hosting 59.1% of events in 2025, an increase of 1.8% compared with the previous year. Central Italy accounted for 23.7% of events, followed by the South with 10.9% and the Islands with 6.3%.
Hotels with meeting rooms remain the most widely used venue type, accounting for 76.6% of events, 50.8% of participants and 51.1% of total attendance. Conference centres and trade fair venues, which the report identifies as key to attracting major international congresses, made up a smaller share of events at 2.3%, but accounted for 11.6% of participants and 15.4% of total attendance.
Roberto Nelli, lecturer in marketing at Università Cattolica and scientific head of the research, said the sector has entered a new stage following the pandemic. “Following the post-pandemic recovery and rebound, Italy’s meetings industry entered a new phase of equilibrium, with more international events and meetings of a shorter average duration but with a higher average number of participants compared to 2019,” he said. He noted that events lasting more than one day attracted attendance of around 30 million in 2025, accounting for 10.4% of total overnight hotel stays in Italy, with an average per capita spend of EUR 312, up 3.7% on 2024.
Venues are prioritising investment in staff training and the refurbishment of spaces, reflecting the sector’s focus on human capital and product quality as key drivers of competitiveness.
Federcongressi&eventi is a non-profit organisation founded in 2004. It is the national association of public and private, for-profit and non-profit companies operating in conferences, conventions, accredited and non-accredited continuing education, destination management, incentive travel, communication and events. Members are grouped into three categories: destinations and venues, organisation of conferences and events, and services and consultancy. The association is a member of Italian travel and tourism federation Federturismo Confindustria.
