Reinforcing their status as an industry-best for associations across the globe, BestCities is pleased to recognise four of their partner destinations – Berlin (3rd), Madrid (5th), Singapore (7th) and Tokyo (10th) – for ranking in the top 10 meeting destinations in the world in this year’s International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) report.
Berlin, Madrid and Singapore have managed to hold onto their positions in the worldwide top 10 since 2016, while Cape Town and Dubai, have held onto their #1 spots in Africa and the Middle East for another year. The alliance also recognises a great result for Vancouver, which has climbed the North American ranks to the #2 spot.
To see more than half of the BestCities partners ranked in the top 50 in the world is testament to the knowledge-sharing and legacy work taking place in the destinations in collaboration with world-class associations.
Speaking of its partners successes, Lesley Williams, Managing Director of BestCities said: “Our network of destinations are dedicated to collaborating with the association community to create incredible legacies and shape our future, and its great to see that recognised with so many of them performing well in the ICCA 2019 report.
“With a combined total of 1,063 meetings hosted in 2019 in our 11 destinations, the alliance is delivering nothing short of the best for so many world-class associations.”
Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin, said: “The 3rd position in the worldwide convention ranking is a fantastic result for Berlin – and means a push for post-coronavirus times. Despite the fact that business has currently been disrupted, our city will continue to be among the leaders of the meetings industry.
“Meetings and events are crucial for the city and have a significant economic impact. Therefore, even small easings could help to revive business. visitBerlin, together with the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises as well as the visitBerlin Convention Partner association join forces to open up new vistas to the industry.”
ICCA, which is the global community and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry, make the ranking based on the number of meetings hosted in the city each year. They have a continued partnership with BestCities through the annual Incredible Impacts grant programme, which sees associations rewarded with cash grants for their incredible legacy work through their global events.