ICCA publishes 2018 city and country rankings by estimated total number of participants

18 June 2019

The public abstract of the 2018 ICCA Statistics is now available to download via the ICCA website

ICCA has today published its country and city rankings by estimated total number of participants as part of its public abstract of the 2018 Statistics Report, offering an alternative perspective on the growth of the association meetings market. In a continuation of annual trends in 2017, Barcelona and U.S.A. take the top spots these rankings.

Download ICCA Statistics Report 2018 - Public Abstract

The global meetings industry trade association calculates the estimated total number of participants by multiplying the average number of participants per meeting (of which the participant number is known to ICCA) by the total number of meetings in the same destination.

Consequently, when analysing destinations based on the estimated total number of participants instead of number of meetings, the rankings can present different results.

2018 City rankings: Barcelona hosts most delegates despite fewer number of meetings

In 2018, Barcelona becomes the number one city by estimated total number of participants, despite the fact that the destination hosted 49 events less than Paris, the number one city by number of meetings. Therefore, it can be concluded that Barcelona hosted fewer but larger events. Paris and Vienna, respectively first and second in the ranking by number of meetings, are second and third in this particular ranking. Berlin takes fifth place to coincide with their ranking by number of meetings.

One particular example that demonstrates how the number of participants presents a differing view of the market comes from Munich. In 2018, the city, which comes in at 35th place by number of meetings, jumps from 87th in 2017 to fourth place in 2018 by estimated total of participants – an impressive 93,444. This is due to the fact the city hosted two major medical conferences in 2018: the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) with 32,858 participants, and the Congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) with 27,700 participants.

Table 1: City ranking by estimated total number of participants in 2018

Rank	City	2018
1	Barcelona	134,838
2	Paris	126,243
3	Vienna	104,775
4	Munich	93,443
5	Berlin	87,623
6	Amsterdam	85,549
7	Toronto, ON	84,600
8	Copenhagen	80,618
9	Madrid	71,885
10	Singapore	69,261
11	Lisbon	67,382
12	Buenos Aires	60,848
13	Seoul	58,996
14	London	54,788
15	Montreal, QC	54,122
16	Bangkok	53,668
17	Dublin	51,313
18	Tokyo	48,787
19	Sydney, NSW	48,272
20	Hong Kong	47,630

2018 Country/Territory rankings: U.S.A. remains in the top spot

The U.S.A. remains in the top country spot with an estimated total of 384,035 participants hosted in 2018. Per this ranking, Spain and Germany swap places compared to the rankings by number of meetings, with Spain in second place and Germany in third. France also remains in fourth, as with the ranking by number of meetings.

Canada, 10th in the ranking by number of meetings, enters the top 5 by estimated total number of participants, jumping from 168,000 to 203,000 participants in 2018, at an increase of 20% compared to 2017.

Table 2: Country/Territory rankings by estimated total number of participants in 2018

Rank	Country/Territory	2018
1	U.S.A.	384,035
2	Spain	296,825
3	Germany	293,337
4	France	241,044
5	Canada	203,429
6	United Kingdom	181,149
7	Italy	168,578
8	Japan	168,248
9	Netherlands	149,513
10	China-P.R.	146,982
11	Austria	120,981
12	Australia	116,000
13	Portugal	113,154
14	Brazil	106,045
15	Republic of Korea	105,084
16	Argentina	95,632
17	Denmark	91,975
18	Sweden	83,796
19	Switzerland	75,640
20	Belgium	72,846

Global association meeting trends

According to ICCA Statistics released in 2013 to mark the 50-year growth of the association sector, between 1963 and 2013, the number of international association meetings doubled every 10 years. ICCA’s latest industry report on the 55-year growth of the international association meetings market confirmed that this exponential growth trend has now slowly transcended into a more mature, yet still solid, growth pattern between 2013 and 2017. The 2018 figures seem to confirm this trend.

ICCA’s statistics provide an extensive picture of how the association meetings sector is continuing to diversify, especially in terms of regional rotation area and regional popularity for hosting business events. In keeping with tradition, Europe remains by far the most popular region for association meetings, but Asia-Pacific and the Middle East are rapidly increasing their share of the market.

Unsurprisingly, Medical Science (16.9%), Technology (14.2%) and Science (13.5%) are the three most popular international association meeting topics. September remains the most popular month for organising international association meetings. In another strong indication of healthy market growth, the average total expenditure at all international meetings in the ICCA Association Database has increased by a promising 4% in 2018, from 10.6 billion EUR in 2017 to over 11 billion EUR in 2018.

Association meetings facing new challenges

Senthil Gopinath, ICCA Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our industry is facing challenges from saturation, consolidation and new entrants, to erosion of traditional business models and fragmentation. There are also great opportunities, including market growth, disruptive innovation, digitisation, new players, less market barriers, new audiences and new scalable models. Alongside all these developments, the number of events is continuing to grow exponentially.

The most respected global comparison of destination performance in attracting international meetings, our annual statistics reports are highly anticipated by the meetings industry. They continue to provide a unique overview which encompasses – and simultaneously celebrates - the global growth of association meetings, a sector which is only set to soar in strength, influence and progress.”

Whilst the most comprehensive and highly-respected global destination performance indicator for the association sector, ICCA rankings are often mistakenly perceived as the destination rankings for the meetings industry as a whole, even though they only represent a niche market segment. Only those meetings that meet ICCA’s stringent assessment criteria - rotating between at least three countries, have a proven attendance of at least 50 participants, and are held on a regular basis - are recorded within the global association’s annual statistics.

The public abstract of the 2018 ICCA Statistics Report is available for free download now on the ICCA website. ICCA’s more extensive statistics are accessible to ICCA Members only via the Destination Comparison Tool, a business intelligence tool which allows ICCA members to analyse their market position and compare meetings data.

Download ICCA Statistics Report 2018 - Public Abstract

- ENDS

Download an image of the cover of the report in high-resolution.

About ICCA

The global community and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry

ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) represents the world's leading suppliers in handling, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events, and now comprises over 1,100 member companies and organisations in almost 100 countries worldwide. ICCA has specialised in the international association meetings sector since its establishment in 1963, offering unrivalled data, communication channels, and business development opportunities.

ICCA members represent the top destinations worldwide and the most experienced specialist suppliers. International meeting planners can rely on the ICCA network to find solutions for all their event objectives, such as: venue selection; technical and strategic advice; assistance with delegate transportation; full convention planning or ad hoc services.