United Kingdom
United States
Asia Pacific
US tops in international meetings
As has been the case since 2004, the US and Germany are the number one and two countries respectively measured by the number of international meetings organized in 2009, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
“The US is widening its gap with Germany with 32 events, compared to the 2008 figures. Spain remains third. Italy jumps from 6th to 4th place with an increase of 54 events compared to 2008, and the United Kingdom remains 5th,” the site says.
China-PR and Austria (which shares 10th place with The Netherlands) are newcomers in the top 10.
For the fifth year in a row, Vienna is the most popular city with an increase of 21 meetings over 2008. Barcelona jumped from 3rd to 2nd place, and Paris, who shared 1st place with Vienna last year, is now 3rd. The only newcomer in the top 20 is Madrid, at 13th place.
The ICCA rankings cover meetings organized by international associations, which take place on a regular basis and which rotate between a minimum of three countries.
This year, the ICCA data researchers have identified 8,294 events which took place in 2009, 800 events more than were identified last year.
“Partly this reflects the strength of the association meetings market despite the economic downturn; partly it is thanks to a record number of ICCA members sending us their calendar information to help identify new events,” the site says.
By David Wilkening
David
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