FRESH NEWS – ICCA statistics report 2019 shows excellent results for Ljubljana and Slovenia

The criteria that apply are the following: the meetings of international professional associations with at least 50 participants that rotate among at least 3 countries, and are organized on a regular basis. The ICCA research method allows for a consistent comparison of world meetings destinations, making it a valuable indicator of the latest trends and developments in the international professional associations event market.

Global overview 2019

In 2019, a worldwide record of 13,254 events took place - 317 more than last year. First five spots in the global rankings show nothing particularly new - Europe remains the most desirable destination for international meetings. Paris is first with 237 events, followed by Lisbon (190), Berlin with 176, Barcelona (156) and Madrid (154) - a »classic« figure that - in a slightly changing order - has been observed for many years. Up until 10th place we can find Vienna, London, Singapur, Prague and Tokyo.

This year the United States remains the leading country with 934 events, followed by Germany (714), France (595), Spain (578), and United Kingdom (567), Italy, Japan, China, the Netherlands and Portugal.

It is however clear that the ICCA research can not cover all events that took place around the globe. Corporate, business and intergovernmental meetings as well as incentives are not included, even though they make for an increasingly important share of the meetings industry market.

Folllowing the release ofd the 2019 report, the ICCA CEO, Senthil Gopinath commented also on the current unprecedented situation the global meetings industry is now facing:

»ICCA’s annual statistics report is one of few that compares destinations’ meetings-related performance on a global scale and therefore provides great insight into global trends in the meetings industry. Given the current circumstances, it is great to once again highlight the consistent growth in association meetings globally. These figures show the need and importance of face-to-face events, and consequently that the industry will be instrumental in the global recovery when the time is right.«

Ljubljana and Slovenia

2019 has been a very good year! Ljubljana is placed 27th in the European rankings and 44th worldwide with 58 recorded events (1 less than last year, which was a record one!). Slovenian capital shares good company with some very established congress destinations, such as Talinn and Lyon (59 events) in front, and Krakow and Valencia (54) just behind.

In the country rankings, Slovenia has recorded 83 events (2 less than the year before) and is 23rd in Europe and 44th globally with Hong Kong (91 events) and Vietnam (86) just in front, and Romania (78) and Estonia (73) just behind.

You can download the ICCA report, including the 10-year statistics, here.