How Latin America Is Rewriting the Business Events Map

For much of the last century, the geography of international business events was reassuringly predictable.
Europe dominated. North America followed. The rest of the world made occasional appearances. That map is being redrawn; and Latin America is one of the most compelling stories of the redrawing.

The continent’s macro picture has been shifting for years: a growing middle class, rapid urbanisation, expanding digital infrastructure, and a generation of cities investing seriously in their international standing. Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile and Argentina are increasingly sophisticated destinations with the infrastructure, the institutions and the ambition to compete on the global stage.

For the business events industry, this shift carries particular weight. Conferences and congresses are not merely reflections of a destination’s standing; they actively contribute to it. They bring knowledge, networks and economic activity that compound over time. A single major international congress can catalyse research partnerships, attract investment and elevate a city’s global profile in ways that take years to fully materialise. Latin America is waking up to this logic, and its governments, convention bureaux and venue operators are acting accordingly.

The Business Events Dividend

The economic case for attracting international meetings is not subtle. Business event delegates are among the highest-spending visitors any destination can attract. Milena Palumbo, CEO of GL events Latin America, is direct about the differential: “Business travelers typically spend four times as
much as leisure travelers, extending their stay in the city and even bringing their families along, which directly impacts other sectors such as transportation, hospitality, and food services.”

The data underpins the ambition. According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Brazil ranked third in the Americas for congresses in 2024, recording a 50% increase in the number of events hosted. It is also worth noting that Brazil entered the Top 15 of the Global Country Ranking in 2024. That is a remarkable trajectory for a market that, not long ago, was regarded as logistically complex and infrastructurally inconsistent.

What has changed? A combination of structural investment, improved air connectivity, institutional strengthening of convention bureaux, and, crucially, the arrival of professional venue operators capable of delivering the quality and consistency that international associations demand.

Price competitiveness plays a role too. As Palumbo notes, Latin American destinations “typically offer significant value for money compared to traditional markets such as Europe and North America, in addition to unique attributes linked to cultural diversity and the experiences they provide to business travellers.”

GL events: Two Decades of Building the Foundation

Few companies have invested more consistently in the region’s business events infrastructure than GL events. The French group, which today operates a portfolio of more than 80 venues in 12 countries, acquired the concession for the Riocentro exhibition and convention complex in Rio de Janeiro in 2006. What followed was two decades of deepening commitment.

The group has invested R$2.1 billion in Brazil alone – a figure, as Palumbo notes, “well above the market average, particularly for the renovation of the venues we manage.” That investment has funded the transformation of Riocentro into a world-class convention campus, the development of an integrated midscale hotel on site, and most recently the sweeping renovation of the Anhembi District
in São Paulo, which is now the largest exhibition and events complex in Latin America at 500,000 m2, operating under a 30-year concession.

The results have been signif icant. In 2022, GL events reported a new revenue record driven in part by a tripling of its South American activity. The Anhembi District closed out 2025 with approximately 130 events and more than 2.5 million visitors.

Christophe Cizeron, Chairman & CEO for GL events Venues, frames the group’s Latin American strategy in clear terms. “Latin America already represents one of the most advanced and structured international development areas for GL events in venue management,” he says. “The region has moved from a growth
market to a core operational pillar within the Group’s global Venues strategy.”

The approach is not simply about operating buildings. What distinguishes GL events’ model is the deployment of all three of its business lines in tandem: venue management through GL events Venues, event creation and exhibitions through GL events Exhibitions, and operational services through GL events Live. The effect, Cizeron explains, is “a virtuous cycle”: venues attract events, events generate demand, and the integrated services capability ensures delivery quality at every level.

As he puts it, this integrated approach allows the group “not only to manage venues, but also to stimulate demand through exhibitions and large-scale events, reinforcing venue attractiveness.”

Beyond Brazil: The Continental Ambition

Brazil remains the anchor, but the group’s gaze has widened. Chile has emerged as the second major operational hub, with GL events now managing both of the country’s principal venues (the Metropolitan
Santiago and Espacio Riesco, Exhibition & Convention Center) and establishing a growing track record of attracting international congresses. Recent highlights include hosting Aquasur, the world’s leading aquaculture trade show, and the 28th IFSO World Congress (organised by Kenes), the first time that obesity surgery congress had been held in Chile, drawing approximately 3,000 international attendees.

“Chile, especially Santiago, is emerging as a key growth driver, with modern infrastructure, international connectivity, and a growing reputation for attracting conferences,” says Palumbo. The country’s political stability, strong institutional frameworks and strategic geographic position make it a natural second anchor for regional expansion.

Across the continent, the group is also monitoring the development of markets at earlier stages of the journey – markets, Palumbo notes, that today resemble “what Brazil experienced at
the beginning of its journey in the sector.” The implication is clear: the playbook that worked in Brazil, a long-term concession model, integrated service delivery, and close partnership with public authorities, is replicable. Growth in the Anhembi district is projected to be 25% in tradeshows and conventions.

When the first Brazilian edition of Hyvolution, the French hydrogen sector trade show, arrives at Anhembi
this year with 7,000 expected visitors and 200 exhibitors, it will be another data point in the group’s argument that Latin America is ready for the global calendar.

WSAVA 2025: A Congress That Proved the Point

If you wanted a single event to illustrate Latin America’s arrival as a serious player in the international
congress calendar, the 50th World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) World Congress would be a strong candidate. Held at Riocentro in September 2025 , organised by PCO Kenes Group and hosted by GL events at the venue, it was a congress that tested the region’s capacity and, by most measures, passed with distinction.

The numbers alone were impressive: 5,245 delegates from over 90 countries, 359 individual scientific sessions across 12 parallel streams over three days, and simultaneous translation in English, Portuguese
and Spanish. But WSAVA 2025 was more than a large congress. It was an unprecedented triple-congress,
running simultaneously with the Brazilian ANCLIVEPA Congress and the FIAVAC (Ibero-American Federation of Companion Animal Veterinary Associations) Congress, a logistical feat that demanded both scale and operational precision.

The vast Riocentro campus, with its interconnected pavilions, open park setting and integrated hotel,
provided the physical infrastructure that made the format possible. For GL events Latin America, the congress demonstrated the full value of its integrated service model: venue management, hospitality and live marketing all deployed in concert. “The operation relied on the integrated services, including venues, hospitality, and live marketing, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality experience,” says
Palumbo.

The congress was also notable for a sustainability agenda that broke new ground for WSAVA. It was the first edition to undergo a comprehensive carbon footprint assessment – using the Trace platform – and to produce a formal Sustainability Report. Single- use materials were eliminated where possible, e-posters replaced printed ones, catering shifted to a plant- forward model, and a partnership with exhibitor VETNIL generated over 7.5 tons of pet food donated to local communities. Air travel, accounting for nearly 95% of total emissions given the global attendance profile, was identified as the dominant challenge, an honest acknowledgement that sets a meaningful baseline for future editions.

The final morning opened with an afro-Brazilian samba session in aid of the Pro Salus Foundation, a reminder that the best international congresses do not merely arrive in a destination, but engage with it.

A Destination-Driven Strategy

What GL events is building in Latin America is something more considered than a portfolio of venues. It is, in Cizeron’s framing, a “destination- driven strategy”, one in which venue management serves as a catalyst for broader economic development, working in close partnership with public authorities, convention bureaux and local industries.

The pipeline at Riocentro illustrates the point. Seven international events new to Latin America in two years. An AIDS congress alone expected to bring 8,000 foreign visitors to Rio de Janeiro. These are the downstream consequence of sustained investment, credible infrastructure and the organisational capacity to deliver consistently at international standard.

For international associations considering their congress rotation, the calculus is changing. Latin America
is no longer a speculative choice or a regional gesture. It is a continent with modern convention infrastructure, price competitiveness, rapidly improving connectivity, genuine destination appeal – and, increasingly, an operator on the ground capable of delivering the experience its cities are promising.

For more information, visit www.gl-events.com/en/venues or contact communication-venues@gl-events.com