Fewer events, at least outside the office. Observing the evolution of the MICE market in France for the 33rd year, Coach Omnium describes a fundamental trend in corporate events. This study, carried out among 310 companies in partnership with Groupe 1001 Salles and IDEAL Meetings & Events, takes the pulse of a market that has been broadly declining since the pandemic.
Ainsi, dans un contexte marqué par des tensions autant économiques que politiques, 66 % des entreprises parlent d’une baisse de leurs budgets événementiels en 2025. Tout en anticipant une activité MICE globalement stable en 2026 (à 47%), contre 21% en baisse, mais aussi 17% en hausse.
However, if companies allocate a smaller budget to their events, they continue to organise them. But in a different way, in shorter and more targeted formats, but also more festive. In this context, cocktails, company parties and after-work events interest more than 7 out of 10 companies, while incentive and team-building operations have seen a strong craze since COVID, organised by 59%% of companies last year, compared to only 17%% in 2019. Among the major incentive organisers are the banking/insurance and media/communication sectors.
Créer des évènements dont « on se souvient », pour marquer les esprits et renforcer la cohésion des équipes : ces formats plus évènementiels semblent désormais ancrés, en réponse à des équipes aux relations distendues par le télétravail. Pour autant, les séminaires et journées d’études restent le format le plus répandu, de tous temps, mais plus encore depuis la pandémie. Alors que les séminaires et journées d’études comptaient pour 74% des manifestations en 2019, ce chiffre a été porté à 85 % l’an dernier.
Dans ce cadre, la durée des événements a d’ailleurs tendance à augmenter. Si les manifestations de plus de 3 jours restent rares, hormis pour des séjours à l’étranger, les réunions de 2 à 3 jours ont tendance à prendre le pas sur les journées d’études. Alors que les manifestions sur un seul jour sont citées par 51% des entreprises, les réunions de deux jours recueillent 57 % des réponses, contre 25% en 2019. Même évolution pour les rencontres sur trois jours, passées de 10% avant la pandémie à 21% l’an dernier.
The Coach Omnium study notes two paradoxical trends. On the one hand, companies, which have recently equipped themselves with meeting spaces, and even business centres within their own walls, are organising more and more internal events. A more economical solution cited by eight out of ten companies. On the other hand, they also want to allow their employees to "change their environment".
Therefore, while hotels, four-star ones in particular, remain the preferred choice for 66%of companies, this very traditional solution continues to decline year on year, having been cited by 71%last year and 80%in 2011. Meanwhile, castles and historic residences, which only interested 20%of companies a decade ago, are popular today (58%), ahead of restaurants and bars (43% ), leisure or sports facilities (24% ), old hangars or workshops (19 % ) and finally boats and yachts (18 % ).
In echo, the originality of the venue becomes a real selection criterion, concerning 56%of responses, compared to 34%in 2015, but which probably never exceeds point number one, location (89%), ahead of budget (83%) and venue capacity (77%). It is therefore not surprising that Ile-de-France is highly favoured in this context (79% ), ahead of the PACA region (27% ). As for MICE events abroad, only 22% of companies say they organised them last year, almost entirely in Europe.
Should this be seen as a CSR aspect? One thing is certain, destinations accessible by train are gaining more and more votes, 86% in 2025 compared to 67% the previous year for travel in France and 46% compared to 10% in 2024 for destinations in Europe. More broadly, the integration of CSR criteria in the specifications of organisers is becoming increasingly common, alongside a preference for service providers who display a label or certification, particularly the ISO 20121 standard for event venues and the European Ecolabel or Green Key in the hotel industry.
Meanwhile, nearly 4 out of 10 companies say they have reduced their number of events for ecological reasons, compared to 24 % in 2024. However, isn't the financial aspect hiding behind environmental virtue? " One might think that the environmental objective is probably not the only driving force, in a context of budget restrictions. , estimates Coach Omnium. For example, only 8 % of companies systematically conduct a carbon assessment of their events, most often using an internal measurement tool, but also solutions such as Climeet, Greenly and Cleo. But, as Nathalie Leduc of Groupe 1001 Salles points out, " Eco-responsibility is no longer a peripheral topic in MICE; it is now integrated into the discourse. The real challenge for 2026 will no longer be intention, but the ability to measure, structure and demonstrate the real impact of the actions taken. ".
