Late Registrations Are Not the Only Thing Stressing Planners Out

Last-minute surges in attendance used to be chalked up to post-Covid behavior, the result of companies holding off on approving attendees’ travel requests.

However, what once was viewed as a temporary phenomenon has become a permanent condition — especially around trade shows. One estimate puts last-minute registrations as high as 43% of attendees within the final four weeks, 25% in the final two weeks, and 20% in the last week.

These numbers are as high as no-show rates, which can reach 40–60% for events with no registration fee, with the rate for paid events around 10–20%.

Attendees aren’t the only ones holding off: Exhibitors are delaying decisions on how many staff members to send, with almost half (48%) registering in the last four weeks.  

For event organizers, this could mean lost revenue from bookings in the block if hotel cutoff dates have passed, attrition damages if the block didn’t fill, and surcharges from suppliers.

This “new normal” is forcing them to build flexibility into not only their venue contracts, but also staffing, catering, and transportation agreements — all the way down to swag and name badges.  

Personal and Inbox Chaos  

Attendees often delay decisions because there’s no reason from their point of view not to do so, says Emily Laufgraben, senior market insights manager at Maritz. “They don’t feel they’re missing out on anything, nor are they thinking about how it will impact the organizer.”

Many are simply maxed out, she says, with too many personal demands making it difficult to get away from home. The largest demographic of conference-goers are Gen X and Millennials, who are often navigating careers while caring for young children, along with aging parents and pets.

“So if I’m thinking about attending an event, I may not want to commit until I know if my kid’s baseball tournament or gymnastics meet is going to conflict,” Laufgraben said. “Our lives have become incredibly complex.” 

Companies continue to delay budget approvals because of rising travel prices and geopolitical uncertainty. Pricing incentives, such as early-bird discounts, have no impact on attendees who can’t get a sign-off from their CFOs in time.  

Then there are the numerous events competing for attendees’ attention, which leads to them taking longer to decide which ones are worth their time.

According to Muhammad Younas, CEO of the event software company vFairs, event planners have told him that before Covid, 70% of conference registrations came in more than two months out. “Now it’s flipped — 70% or more of sign-ups happen in the final two months leading up to the event.”

One reason is what he calls inbox chaos.

“With AI-generated emails flooding in, it’s harder than ever for event invites to stand out.”

Over-Attendance an Issue

Though there’s much focus on planning for no–shows, the exact opposite — over-attendance — can also be an issue. One planner recently had an event where she had planned for 900 people based on an expected 80% of registrations showing up. Instead, all 1,100+ people came.

“We’re seeing other events land anywhere from 33% to 55%” she said. “Show rates are more unpredictable than I’ve seen in my 27 years of executing events.”

Kyle Jordan, director of meetings at The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), has been challenged by late registration patterns, which he says have become “much more common” since the end of the Covid pandemic. But accompanying that has been a strong demand to attend his association’s meetings that are held outside the U.S. — leading to a surge in attendance in the double digits.

His 2025 international meeting was originally anticipated to draw 600–800 attendees and attracted almost 1,200.

“Some of that is likely pent-up demand and a reflection of the continued value of face-to-face meetings,” he said. “But I also think associations need to pay close attention to how international attendees are making decisions about where they are willing, able, and comfortable traveling. Visa uncertainty, border entry concerns, cost, and broader perceptions of the U.S. all matter.”

He expects this to continue for several years, and says that associations need to build more flexibility into forecasting, room blocks, space planning, and on-site operations.

“Our old registration pacing models are not as reliable as they used to be.”