Orlando Takes Top Spot in Amex GBT's 2026-27 Meetings Forecast

Orlando ranks first among US destinations in American Express Global Business Travel's 2026-27 Meetings and Events Forecast, ahead of Las Vegas, Chicago, New York and Dallas. It's a ranking, not a booking count — Amex GBT (a corporate travel management company) is projecting where group demand will land, and sellers of meetings inventory should read it accordingly.

The rest of the US top five follows a familiar convention-market logic. Las Vegas, Chicago, New York and Dallas are all high-capacity venues with the airlift and hotel stock to absorb large programs. Orlando's edge, by the forecast's own criteria, sits in cost-effectiveness and modern purpose-built facilities rather than in novelty.

What changes outside the US?

Europe delivers the forecast's most quotable shift: Barcelona is projected to overtake London for the top spot. Madrid, Paris and Lisbon follow. If the projection holds, that's a meaningful reallocation of European group business away from the market that has long priced itself as the default.

Latin America has the sharpest mover. Buenos Aires surged to the projected No. 1 position, with Mexico City, São Paulo, Panama City and Rio de Janeiro behind it. A surge, in forecast language, means Amex GBT expects a jump relative to prior rankings — it does not mean measured bookings have already confirmed it.

Asia-Pacific stays predictable. Singapore holds the top projected spot, followed by Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney. No change at the summit there, which is itself information: the region's meetings demand remains concentrated in the same hub that anchors most long-haul corporate itineraries.

How were the destinations scored?

Amex GBT says it selected destinations against a defined set of criteria rather than raw volume. The list includes:

• Ease of travel and transportation for attendees
• Cost-effectiveness for organizers and participants
• Physical safety and security
• Recent public investments and local attractions
• The ability to deliver a robust attendee experience through modern facilities, public amenities and sustainability attributes

These elements, according to the company, "are all key to an overall positive attendee experience and support event objectives." That's a supplier's framing, and it's worth noting what it rewards: cities that have spent on infrastructure and kept attendee costs down. Sustainability attributes now sit inside the scoring rubric, not beside it.

Why should sellers care?

A forecast like this works as a demand signal for anyone selling meetings and events inventory — hotels, convention bureaus (the destination marketing organizations that bid for group business), and intermediaries packaging programs. Destinations that make the list get a marketing gift; those displaced, like London, face a narrative problem even if actual volumes hold steady.

The distinction matters. These are projections for the 2026-27 cycle, built on the criteria above, not filings or measured arrival data. Buyers will still negotiate on room rates, venue availability and airlift. But rankings shape shortlists, and shortlists shape RFPs (requests for proposal, the bidding process by which organizers solicit venue offers).

For Orlando's convention bureau and its hotel base, the No. 1 slot is leverage in exactly that pipeline. For Barcelona, the projected pass on London is the headline worth watching through next year's actuals.

Expect the real test to come when 2026 booking data lands against these picks. Forecasts are pitches until the room nights arrive.