What Fall RFP Data Tells Us About Where Group Travel Is Headed

Every fall, RFP volume tells a story before the industry reports catch up to it. Planners are sourcing months ahead of their events, which means the requests going out right now are a preview of where budgets, group sizes, and destination preferences are actually headed for next year.

Group sizes are shifting smaller and more frequent

Rather than one large annual conference, more organizations are running several smaller regional events throughout the year. This spreads risk and keeps travel costs more predictable, but it also means venues need to get comfortable competing for groups in the fifty to two hundred attendee range rather than only chasing the large citywide business. This shift also tracks with Cvent's 2026 Global Planner Sourcing Report finding that 63 percent of planners running events under 50 attendees expect an RFP response within four business days, a faster and more frequent cadence than the sourcing calendar built around a single large annual event.

Secondary cities are pulling more RFPs

Budget pressure is pushing planners toward secondary markets that offer comparable meeting space and hotel quality at a meaningfully lower rate than the traditional major hubs. This trend has been building for a few years and fall RFP data continues to confirm it, particularly as STR and Tourism Economics' August 2026 forecast shows overall RevPAR growth accelerating in major markets, widening the cost gap that makes secondary cities attractive.

Lead times are getting shorter

Planners are sending RFPs closer to the event date than they did a few years ago, a trend driven partly by budget approval cycles that themselves have compressed. Venues that can turn around a proposal quickly are capturing a disproportionate share of this shorter lead time business, especially given that 80 percent of planners, according to Cvent's research, now consider four business days the outer limit of an acceptable RFP response time.

Flexibility is outranking cost as a decision driver

Cvent's 2026 report found that 41 percent of planners now cite flexibility of space as their top venue selection factor, ahead of cost, a meaningful shift from a purely price driven sourcing model. Combined with 49 percent of planners reporting they source nontraditional or unique venues at least some of the time, the fall data suggests planners are willing to pay for adaptability rather than defaulting to the cheapest available option.

Technology adoption is nearly universal now

Ninety six percent of planners report using some form of online RFP tool, per Cvent's research, up sharply from a purely email and spreadsheet driven process just a few years ago. Fall's RFP surge is increasingly happening inside sourcing platforms rather than scattered inboxes, which means venues without a presence on the platforms planners actually use are missing a growing share of RFP volume entirely.

What this means going into next year

Flexibility is becoming the differentiator, both for planners who need to move quickly and for venues that can accommodate shifting group sizes and shorter booking windows without losing quality. The properties and planners paying attention to these patterns now will be better positioned when next year's fall RFP surge arrives.

Why these shifts reinforce each other

Smaller, more frequent events, shorter lead times, and a preference for flexible space are not separate trends happening at the same time by coincidence. A planner running four regional events instead of one large conference has less lead time per event and needs venues that can flex to different formats and sizes. Each shift makes the others more likely, which is why they are showing up together in the data rather than as isolated changes.

Quick tips for reading next year's RFP data

Keep these patterns in view as you plan:

• Expect more RFPs for groups under 200 attendees, and fewer single large annual events.
• Watch secondary markets for stronger value as major market rates continue climbing.
• Build shorter lead times into your own sourcing timeline where possible.
• Prioritize flexible, adaptable space over the cheapest available option.
• Make sure your sourcing process runs through the platforms planners actually use.

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