VIENNA DEFENDS ITS PODIUM PLACE: SECOND PLACE IN THE 2017 ICCA CONGRESS STATISTICS

VIENNA

Leading congress destination Vienna put in yet another strong showing in the 2017 statistics published by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), ranking second worldwide alongside Paris.

The latest international congress totals just confirmed by ICCA for 2017 saw Vienna claim joint second place with Paris. With a total of 190 events, the Austrian capital ranked only behind Barcelona (195) and ahead of fourth-placed Berlin (185). Christian Mutschlechner, head of the Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB) at the Vienna Tourist Board explained: “We are delighted with another excellent finish this year, and would like to congratulate our coopetition partner Barcelona on taking top spot.” For more than 20 years, the Vienna and Barcelona convention bureaus have periodically teamed up to acquire events, as there is often a strong strategic argument in favor of cooperation rather than competition, an approach known as ‘coopetition’.

Fifth place in the ICCA ranking went to London (with 177 events), followed by Singapore (160), Madrid (153), Prague (151), Lisbon (149) and Seoul (142). Broken down by country, Austria ranked 12th overall, with 281 events. First place was claimed by the USA (941) followed by Germany (682) and the United Kingdom (592).

The Vienna Tourist Board’s Vienna Convention Bureau is responsible for the worldwide acquisition of congresses, corporate conventions and incentives. Founded in 1969, it is supported by the City of Vienna and the Vienna Economic Chamber. According to the latest rankings of ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association (2nd place) and UIA, the Union of International Associations (5th place), Vienna is one of the top convention destinations worldwide (2016, the ranking of 2017 will be released in several weeks). www.vienna.convention.at