The event industry, often celebrated for its dynamism and creativity, conceals a pressing issue: the pervasive burnout and undercompensation of its professionals. While certifications are marketed as gateways to career advancement, they frequently serve as revenue streams for organizations, offering little respite from the industry’s systemic challenges.

The Burnout Epidemic

Meeting and Events has been identified as one of the most stressful professions globally, ranking just below military personnel and first responders. A staggering 79% of event professionals report increased stress levels compared to pre-pandemic times. 

This stress manifests in various ways:

• Emotional Exhaustion: More than one-third of planners and 31% of suppliers experience anxiety or burnout.

• Work-Life Imbalance: Approximately 75% of planners cite work-life balance as the primary contributor to burnout.

• Increased Responsibilities: 61% of industry experts attribute heightened stress to expanded roles, especially in technology and digital domains.

Meeting and Event professionals are not just managing logistics—they’re therapists, crisis managers, financial strategists, and last-minute miracle workers, often all at once. And yet, the return on this relentless energy? Stagnant wages, unrealistic expectations, and a culture that glorifies overwork.

The Certification Illusion

Professional certifications like the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) are often promoted as the solution to career stagnation. While some studies indicate that certified planners earn about $85,000 annually compared to $76,500 for non-certified peers, this $8,500 difference does nothing to address the root causes of burnout, workload imbalances, and systemic underappreciation.

Certifications require thousands of dollars in fees, countless study hours, and recurring renewals—all of which primarily benefit the issuing organizations, not the professionals who sacrifice time, energy, and resources to obtain them. These programs do not teach how to prevent burnout, negotiate fair wages, or push back against the crushing workload expectations that plague the industry.

The Overlooked Workforce: Travel Directors

Event professionals aren’t the only ones suffering. Travel directors—those essential on-the-ground forces making sure events run seamlessly—are often expected to work 12+ hour days for minimal pay, with little to no advocacy from the very organizations profiting off their labor.

The industry thrives on their sacrifice but offers little in return. And yet, the expectation remains: do the work, don’t complain, and be grateful for the opportunity.

That expectation needs to stop.

A Call to Action

Addressing these challenges requires a fundamental shift in the way the industry operates. It’s time for action:

1. Organizational Accountability: Industry bodies must prioritize the well-being of professionals over revenue generation from certifications.

2. Fair Compensation: Wages should reflect the true value and demands of event professionals and travel directors.

3. Mental Health Support: Companies and organizations must implement real strategies for preventing burnout, rather than offering empty wellness initiatives.

4. Culture Shift: Normalize pushing back on unrealistic expectations, advocating for work-life balance, and demanding fair treatment.

We Are ALL Responsible for This.

Yes, industry organizations need to change. But we, as meeting and event professionals, travel directors, suppliers, and vendors, also have to take responsibility. The expectation in this industry has always been to accept this reality—to wear overwork as a badge of honor, to push through exhaustion, to treat burnout as just “part of the job.”

That mindset needs to stop.

It starts with us. Every planner who refuses to accept unreasonable workloads. Every travel director who demands fair pay. Every supplier who pushes for ethical business practices. We need to raise our voices.

At Phoenix Unleashed, we’re not just writing blogs and posts—we are building the first AI-powered burnout prevention platform to equip event professionals with the tools to assess, prevent, and recover from burnout. We are bringing awareness, pushing for a movement, and fighting for change.

But we can’t do this alone.

We need you. We need all of us.

The shift won’t happen because one organization or one group speaks up. It happens when the entire industry demands better. And that starts now.

🔥 Are you with us? 🔥