As we approach the end of 2025, one message stands out clearly: this has been a pivotal year for AIPC a year defined by progress, experimentation, candid reflection and, above all, collective ambition. Our community has continued to evolve, innovate and strengthen its role within a rapidly shifting global landscape.
A Membership Community in Motion
Membership remained dynamic throughout 2025. While the total number of members at year-end reached 189, this reflects both gains and losses across regions. Most notably, AIPC lost ten Chinese members who were no longer in good standing, a reminder of the highly competitive and fast-moving convention centre landscape. In parallel, new pathways for sustainable engagement in China are under evaluation and will be confirmed in 2026.
At the same time, AIPC proudly welcomed six new members:
- St John’s Convention Center (Canada)
- Roma Convention Center (Italy)
- House of People (Sweden)
- Mulungushi International Convention and Exhibition Center (Zambia)
- SNIEC (China)
- Shenzhen International Communication Center (China)
On the Business Partner side, 2025 was marked by the addition of Visual Europe Group, whose expertise and support strengthen the association’s flagship events and programming.
Overall, the evolution of membership reflects a sector that is shifting, adapting and competing for growth and AIPC is doing the same.
This momentum was clearly reflected at the AIPC Annual Conference 2025 in Shenzhen, which brought together over 150 senior convention centre leaders from more than 30 countries. Under the theme “Meet the World. See the Future,” discussions focused on innovation, sustainability, talent development and evolving client expectations, reinforcing the strategic priorities shaping the association’s work.
Talent remained a central theme, with the Future Shapers once again highlighting the importance of investing in people and leadership to ensure long-term success.
Our Future Shapers once again played a central role. Their drive, creativity and cross-border collaboration continue to position AIPC as the home of the next generation of industry leaders where fresh thinking translates into tangible progress.
A Year of Intelligence and Learning
2025 marked a major step forward in how AIPC transforms industry intelligence into collective action.
Both the Membership Survey and the Benchmarking Report, long-standing pillars of AIPC’s value continued to deliver essential data on performance, client expectations, staffing, technology, sustainability and revenue trends.
The insights were unmistakable: attendance is rising while bookings are stabilising, meaning growth is still achievable but must be earned through differentiation and innovation. Budgets remain tight, making strategic pricing essential, centres that can justify their value will succeed, while those who cannot will struggle. Clients now expect flexibility, strong digital infrastructure and credible sustainability practices, pushing venues to demonstrate excellence rather than simply claim it. Despite financial pressures, technology investment continues, confirming that modernisation has become a requirement rather than a luxury. And finally, staffing challenges remain structural, making talent development and retention just as critical as infrastructure.
The 2025 Benchmarking Report reinforced the same message: the industry has not only stabilised , it is growing again. Conventions remain the strongest revenue engine, event diversity has returned, and forecasts for 2025 and 2026 show continued acceleration. Centres that invest in technology, talent and customer experience consistently outperform those relying solely on space and scale.
What is new this year is how AIPC activates insight. The creation of the Educational Committee supported by Task Forces and Working Groups ensures that members now directly shape learning across the Annual Conference, the Sales & Marketing and Operational Excellence Summits, the Future Shapers and the Academies.
The philosophy is simple and powerful: AIPC learning should be driven by members, fuelled by industry data and focused on solving real challenges not just sharing information.
Strengthening Cyber Resilience Across Our Global Network
As cyber threats evolve at unprecedented speed, so does the resilience of the AIPC community. Throughout 2024 and 2025, the AIPC Cyber Insights Webinars have become a trusted platform for venue leaders to benchmark real incidents and share practical solutions designed for the convention centre environment.
The monthly Cyber Intelligence Reports have further helped centres move from reactive protection to preventive strategy tracking executive voice-cloning scams, payment diversion attempts, Wi-Fi vulnerabilities during large events, and the growing cyber-risk perimeter created by hybrid production and AV integration.
The core lesson has been clear: cybersecurity is now an operational discipline. The venues that perform best are those with clear procedures, continuous staff awareness, rigorous access controls and rehearsed incident response. Cyber risk is shared across the industry and so is resilience.
Learning and Events: Expanding Access Worldwide
The AIPC Academy reached new heights this year. Following the successful spring programme in Brussels, the Academy returned once again to the Americas, confirming its strong demand and added value for leaders in the region. What made 2025 truly special, however, was the first-ever Academy in Oceania, marking a significant milestone in AIPC’s ambition to make high-quality professional development accessible across all regions of our global community.
The Operational Excellence Summit, held in Barcelona this November, and the Sales & Marketing Summit in Frankfurt earlier in the year, demonstrated the same commitment: continuous improvement, fresh learning formats and deeper peer-to-peer exchange. The Academies and summits already planned for 2026 will continue this trajectory, ensuring learning remains truly global and member-driven.
Commitment to Excellence: Quality Standards and Innovation
Excellence remains a defining value for AIPC, not only through learning, but also through recognition.
The AIPC Quality Standards Program, created in 2007, continues to provide the industry’s only performance framework tailored to convention centres. In 2025, the programme was updated to reflect today’s business and risk landscape with enhanced requirements in emergency response, inclusivity, cybersecurity and sustainability.
This year once again demonstrated the strength of operational excellence across our community, with several centres successfully renewing their certification including ICC Belfast and the Costa Rica Convention Center, both achieving the Gold Quality Standards designation. Their accomplishment highlights the continued commitment of AIPC members to measurable improvement, not just best intentions.
Innovation was also celebrated through the Innovation Award.
- Overall Winner — Marina Bay Sands: Tech-Enhanced Mobility initiative improving efficiency and labour safety through AI-supported equipment.
- Delegate’s Choice — QSNCC: Waste Not, Delight More, repurposing 80%+ of food waste while enhancing visitor experience and community support.
This year also recognised excellence through the AIPC Innovation Award, designed to highlight breakthrough approaches to centre management, operations and marketing.
2026: Entering a New Phase
Next year will see the full rollout of the organisational structure introduced in 2025:
- Activation of the Board, with regional leadership roles
- Educational Committee as the central learning authority
- Task Forces to programme major educational events
- Working Groups to intensify knowledge-sharing in Cybersecurity, Sales & Marketing, Sustainability and Operations
- Future Shapers represented at Board level through a Committee Observer role
This structure is designed to make AIPC future-ready and member-powered, reducing dependency on a small core team and giving members active influence on all AIPC programmes and priorities.
Looking Ahead
As we look forward to gathering again in Bilbao in June 2026, we do so with renewed confidence and a clear ambition: to continue building the most collaborative, informed and resilient global community of convention centres.
