The growth of Corporate Hospitality (CH) over the last three decades has positioned the practice centrally in many Business to Business (B2B) marketing programs.

Major events ranging from golfing tournaments, thoroughbred racing through to contemporary music concerts and motorsport events are often dependent upon the income generated from the corporate sector through sponsorship and corporate hospitality for profitability. Since 2007, the business cycle has slowed, moving from a previous sustained period of expansion to the present state of consolidation and contraction. With the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), an economic slowdown has precipitated a reassessment of the effectiveness of marketing programs. It is with this sense that the role of Corporate Hospitality within marketing programs is now subject to closer scrutiny. This study incorporates qualitative methods to examine current attitudes to CH among senior executives involved in CH programs and discusses implications for the practice in the immediate term and the subsequent impact for major events.

Key findings show that despite an economic downturn, that has impacted tourism and events businesses, most organisations surveyed were confident that their CH programs would continue relatively unhindered. The consensus among respondents agreed that CH is a valuable tool for building and maintaining relationships and that the weakest link in running corporate hospitality programs was unsatisfactory measurement of such