The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has released its annual ICCA GlobeWatch: Business Analytics – Country & City Rankings 2025, with the US and Lisbon leading the Country and City lists respectively.
Presented at IMEX Frankfurt, ICCA’s flagship research publication analysed data from more than 12,438 international association meetings worldwide, representing 162 countries and territories, and 1603 cities.
The rankings count rotating international association meetings that move between destinations, are organised by international associations rather than corporates, and have 50+ delegates.
Europe (53%) holds the largest share, followed by Asia Pacific (22%) and North America (10%). Latin America (9%), Africa (4%) and the Middle East (2%) continue to grow their presence.
The US, which hosted 792 meetings meeting the criteria, continued to lead the global country rankings, with Japan climbing two spots (6th), and China closing the top 10 list. The other APAC destination that made the top 11-20 list is South Korea.
At the city level, Lisbon, which hosted 188 meetings topped the rankings, ahead of Paris and Barcelona. Vienna, Singapore, Prague, Copenhagen, London, Seoul, and Tokyo round out the top 10, while Bangkok and Hong Kong are the only other APAC destinations in the top 11-20 list.
Rankings at a glance:
By Country
1 US
2 Italy
3 Germany
4 Spain
5 UK
6 Japan
7 France
8 Portugal
9 Netherlands
10 China
By City
1 Lisbon
2 Paris
3 Barcelona
4 Vienna
5 Singapore
6 Prague
7 Copenhagen
8 London
9 Seoul
10 Tokyo
Meeting breadth and depth
Medical sciences, technology, and science remain the leading knowledge sectors, with education,
industry, social sciences, management, and economics following.
Every sector also has its champion.
While the US continues to dominate medical sciences, sciences and technology, Japan ranks in the top three for the latter two sectors. On the city front, Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong are all included in the top 10 sector lists.
In terms of size, meetings of 1,000 participants or more have returned to or exceeded 2019 levels, with the largest congresses (those above 3,000) back exactly where they were. Mega conventions proved the most durable format of all.
Meetings with 2,000 or more participants generate significant economic returns, yet they account for just 2.8% of all meetings.
Adding venue to the menu
Apart from the usual rankings for region, meeting size and subject sector, the 2025 edition introduced a new marker: venue types.
Convention and exhibition centres (27%) remain the anchor of event destinations. “Cities like Barcelona, Dubai, Seoul, and Vancouver have made generational investments in their convention facilities because the returns are proven,” the report noted.
It added that stimulus programmes in Saudi Arabia, India, China, and the US hav allocated billions of dollars for next-generation convention centres.
Planners and attendees are also increasingly open to alternative venues, such as universities (36%), hotels (28%), and other venues (9%).
