Congress: Vienna regains the top spot in a shake-up of the ICCA rankings

A year as troubled as 2021 could only result in a shake-up of the ICCA rankings. The International Congress and Convention Association has just published its benchmark rankings, showing profound changes among the major MICE destinations. In the top three, more than Pariswhich has been in the top two places since 2010, and Berlin, which came first in 2015. Only Vienna has been able to hold its own against all the odds, regaining the top spot on the podium that it had often occupied before Paris in recent years. " As challenging as the last few years have been, Vienna remains one of the world's leading meeting destinations. First place in the ICCA 2021 report proves it once again." said a delighted Christian Woronka, head of the Vienna Convention Bureau.

While the usual top 10 destinations - Barcelona (4th), Singapore (5th), Madrid (6th), Prague (7th) and Brussels (10th) - are still there, Paris (8th) and Berlin (9th) have slipped down the rankings. Because, behind Vienna, Lisbon and Athens ranked second and third respectively in the world for hosting major international conferences. Already ranked second in 2019, the Portuguese capital seems to be establishing itself as one of the world's leading destinations. In 2021, Lisbon has managed to hold its position thanks to a large number of planned events that were not cancelled or postponed, as well as the fact that some others have gone virtual or hybrid.

CICA classification shows a switch to hybrid or virtual

Although the iCCA did not publish a ranking for 2020, three quarters of which was cut short by the pandemic, its new annual ranking is based on an analysis of the 8,000 major international congresses scheduled for 2021, highlighting the virtual shift of a large number of events. In Vienna, 92 of the 113 planned congresses have been organised, including 9 on site, 61 in virtual format and 22 in hybrid mode. Almost on a par with the Austrian capital, with 91 congresses organised, Lisbon saw 7 congresses run as normal, while 59 switched to a virtual format and 25 to a hybrid format. By way of comparison, Paris hosted 50 events in 2021 out of the 84 planned, including 7 face-to-face, 31 virtual and 12 hybrid.

After a disastrous year in 2020 for convention destinations, the ICCA's analysis shows that these technological resources have enabled convention centres to continue their business after a fashion. The market share of virtual and hybrid meetings has doubled in just one year. At the same time, restrictions were lifted and travel helped to pick up in the second half of the year, event cancellations fell from 61 % in 2020 to 31 % in 2021. The Middle East has the highest level of business continuity (77 %), followed by Latin America (72 %), up sharply on 2020, and Asia (71 %), compared with 681 % for Europe and 52 % for Oceania.

However, while the industry recorded overall revenues of more than $10 billion in 2019, from 13,252 conventions, the CICA estimates that the sector's revenues will be just over $2.3 billion in 2021, between cancelled and postponed events and the impact of the pandemic on visitor numbers.

Nevertheless, Senthil Gopinath, CEO of the ICCA, is optimistic for the future: " After a tumultuous 2020, 2021 can be described as a year ofA year of consolidation on the one hand and gradual recovery on the other. While we haven't yet returned to pre-pandemic numbers, we've gained a lot of ground on the road to full recovery." "What's more, we've transformed the meetings industry in the process." he also stressed.

CICA's Destination Performance Index Top 25 worldwide

(source: CICA)

Top 10 France in the CICA Destination Performance Index

(source: CICA)