Barcelona occupied in 2017 the first place in the world ranking of cities organizing rotating international congresses, with a total of 195 events, according to the list published recently by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
Barcelona became the leader of this ranking for the first time since 2004. In 2017, it surpassed the cities of Paris (France) and Vienna (Austria), which were until then ahead of the Catalan capital. Both Paris and Vienna hosted 190 international congresses, five less than Barcelona.
This ranking takes into account events that are held regularly (for example, every year or every two years) and that rotate among at least three countries. In addition, only those events that bring together a minimum of 50 participants are considered.
The fourth place in the ICCA ranking went to Berlin (Germany), with 185 events, while the fifth position was occupied by London (United Kingdom), with 177 events.
Madrid also appears among the top ten cities, occupying seventh place with 153 congresses held in 2017. This is the same position it obtained in the 2016 ranking.
Among the cities that have most improved their position this last year are Buenos Aires (which has gone from 17th to 11th place), Budapest (from 16th to 12th) and Hong Kong (from 19th to 13th).
The ICCA said that last year a record number of 12,558 international meetings was reached, 346 more than in 2016.
By country, the United States occupied the first position with a total of 941 international meetings, 7 more than in 2016. Germany remains the second country in the ranking, with 682 events, and the United Kingdom the third with 592 meetings.
Spain moves from fifth to fourth place, with a total of 564 international meetings organized in 2017. It surpasses Italy and France in the ranking.