We rock! The Iberian Peninsula triumphs in the ICCA ranking
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1 Paris, 2 Vienna, 3 Madrid, 4 Barcelona, 5 Berlin, 6 Lisbon. Half of the top destinations in the world are Iberian. Let’s not hide our pride for Spain, which has two of the four leading cities in the world (almost the achievement of England in the Champions!). No other country has two cities in the top 20 and Spain has two in the top 4, wow! And if we expand to the top 6, the list includes Lisbon, probably the most dynamic destination in the last few years.
In addition, these data do not include some of the largest and most important events in the world, since the ranking only analyzes the congresses that rotate, which excludes from the data events such as the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona or the Web Summit in Lisbon. Iberia has therefore the highest number of rotating events, but also these gems that all destinations seek and that bring to the destination about 100,000 professionals, a lot of knowledge, the best tech brands for a few days.
Is this because of the sun and low prices? No: bringing an international congress to a destination requires quality local suppliers, reliability, and venues with the best possible service, so the popularity of Iberia goes far beyond competitive prices and good weather. A medical society does not bring 20,000 professionals to a destination because it’s sunny. This ranking is the confirmation of something that we have commented on in several interviews with large organizers (European oncology, cardiology societies …): today there is a high level of quality, service, reliability, which makes the congresses come… and come back (Eular, Cardio, ESMO, CPHI and many others have become very loyal customers).
Finally, two observations: first the domain of Europe as the destination of these great international congresses: the top 7 destinations are European, 8 of the top 10. A favorable location between Asia and America, attractive tourist destinations, but also a long tradition and know-how in the world of congress maintain this domination. Finally, another country in southern Europe is strangely discreet: Italy has no destination in the top 20 (Rome is number 22).
Well as we were saying… We rock!
