New ICCA Statistics Report

On 30th May International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) published the latest version of the most anticipated report with the ranking of countries and cities for 2021.
Warsaw was ranked 1st in Poland, 20th in Europe and 24th in the world. The 49 meetings submitted to ICCA in 2021 gathered a total of 22,387 participants. Poland ranked 18th with 158 meetings.
Last year, the rankings were omitted due to an uneven opportunity caused by the pandemic.

The annual ICCA country and city rankings are one of the most eagerly anticipated reports in the global meetings industry, which can offer some very valuable Marketing and PR opportunities. The statistics however should be analyzed in a broader context and in relation to global and regional trend.
 
This year, ICCA developed the Destination Performance Index (DPI) to recognize and reward the efforts made by destinations in terms of: winning the initial bid, COVID policies, adaptability and technological capabilities to convert on-site events into virtual/hybrid events, and thus maintaining business continuity.
The DPI consists of six performance indicators that are based on the number of meetings. All of the metrics make up separate rankings that are combined into the DPI. The DPI can be viewed as an aggregate ranking of the six individual rankings

What are ICCA’s criteria?

The ICCA statistical report is based on association meeting data collected from convention bureaus, meeting facilities, hotels and the associations themselves. The statistics include meetings organized by associations, listed in the ICCA Associations database, that meet the established criteria.

The data illustrates some current status, but it is important to remember that it is the result of sales efforts made 3-4 years ago, which is usually between the time of the tender and the event. These decisions are often made based on internal association policies and the activities of local ambassadors supported by convention bureaux.

What are the global trends?

The ICCA report is a tool that allows you to compare your performance with other cities and examine overall trends.
In the ranking of countries, the United States is consistently the leader (1st). Next places were taken by Spain (2nd) and Germany (3rd). Poland ranked a fairly strong 18th, showing 158 association meetings. In the ranking of cities the leader is Vienna (1st). Second place was taken by Lisbon (2nd), and third place by Athens (3rd). Taking into account all the circumstances related to the difficult time of the pandemic, Warsaw ranked high on 24th position.

How does Warsaw compare to other Polish cities?

For years Warsaw has been the undisputed leader in terms of the number of association events in Poland. Also in 2021 the capital city took the first place in the ranking (49 meetings). Kraków came second (45 meetings). Further positions were taken by Poznań (15 meetings) and Gdańsk (13 meetings).