Updated on 14 May at 12.30pm
Without waiting until 2024, when Paris will have the honour of hosting the Olympic Games, the French capital is already in good shape when it comes to MICE tourism. Quite a way ahead in the race to host the world's major congresses in 2021 because of Covid, it returned to the podium last year behind Vienna and Lisbon, Paris regains top spot in the ICCA rankings in 2023. " We are delighted with this result, but above all proud to see that our efforts to support conferences in our areas of excellence are bearing fruit", said Corinne Menegaux, Managing Director of Paris je t'aime - Office de tourisme..
While Paris hosted 800 congresses last year, compared with 714 in 2022, the number of major events taken into account by the ICCA was 156, compared with 141 hosted by Vienna. The Austrian capital, accustomed to topping the rankings, has even fallen off the podium for 2023. Singapore, on the other hand, has made a significant leap to second place, having fallen to 13th.e place last year.
The resumption of long-haul flights to the Asia-Pacific region has benefited not only Singapore, but also the other countries in the region. major Asian conference destinations. Seoul moved into the Top 10, while Tokyo closed the gap at number 13.e position. More generally, in the ranking of nations, Japan (7e) and South Korea (11e) have regained their place among the major conference countries, while China, where travel restrictions were later relaxed, is still lagging behind, 18e in 2023 from 7e in 2019.
The rankings also show the relative decline of Germany, which is still one of the world's leading countries for trade fairs, but which had already slipped from second to fourth place last year. was overtaken by France in 2023. The top three, behind the United States, includes two other European countries. In second place, Italy is buoyed by activity in Rome, with 7e the world's leading conference city, Milan (29e) and Bologna (47e) and Florence (60e). For its part, Spain can count on its two Barcelona powerhouses (5e) and Madrid (8e) to secure third place.
As for France, the country has 10 of its cities in the Top 200 Lyon-St Etienne (30e), Marseille-Aix (71e), Toulouse (84e), Bordeaux (98e), Nice (102e), Strasbourg (116e), Lille (143e), Nantes (161e) and Nancy (173e).
CICA annual rankings confirm the leadership of Europe's major cities for hosting major events, with 15 cities in the top 20, including Dublin (9e), London (11th), Athens (15the), Copenhagen (17e), Amsterdam (18e), Brussels (19e), Stockholm (20e). On the podium for the last three years, Lisbon (3e) is growing in appeal year on year, while Prague (6e) confirmed its dynamism. In line with lower convention activity in Germany, Berlin (12e) is losing its superb reputation, a city that was competing with Paris and Vienna at the end of the last decade.
The ICCA rankings also list the most dynamic cities on other continents. In Asia-Pacific, Bangkok, Taipei and Sydney stand out behind Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul. In the Americas, while the United States remains the world's leading convention destination, activity is diluted across a multitude of cities, with the largest convention metropolis, Boston, only eighth on the continent. A ranking that is largely dominated by Buenos Aireswith 90 events, compared with 64 in Montreal and 51 in Mexico City. The Africa-Middle East zone is dominated by Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with 49 and 38 events respectively, and Cape Town and Kigali with 42 and 31 congresses respectively.
