According to a report recently released by The Union of International Associations (UIA), Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as the top congress city in Australia.

Despite Australia falling in world convention rankings, Melbourne has moved up from 34 in the league table of Top International Meetings Cities in 2005, to 26 in 2006.

The figures show that Melbourne, with 26.2% of the Australian Market, has moved into a significant lead over Sydney whose ranking has slipped from 24 to 38 with 19.8% of the market.

Sandra Chipchase, Chief Executive Officer of Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) congratulated the industry in Melbourne and regional Victoria, ‘This fantastic result is all credit to the industry for their hard work and dedication in securing this position.'

Association meetings are generally the largest in the business events sector, attracting significant numbers of international delegates and generating the most economic benefits for the destination. Association events can be annual, biannual or held only every four to six years.

MCVB identifies and bids for these international conventions to generate export dollars for Victoria. MCVB secured 65 international conventions for Victoria in the last financial year which will inject over $155 million in economic impact into the State.

According to the UIA, Melbourne held 53 international association events in 2006 compared to Sydney's 40.

Chipchase said, ‘Despite increasing competition globally, Melbourne continues to see growth in the business events sector because of our infrastructure, superior facilities and services, our strategic bidding and marketing activities, and of course our reputation for being the most stylish and sophisticated Australian city.'

Leigh Harry, Chief Executive of the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre added that the increased capacity of Melbourne's new Convention Centre, due to open in 2009, is helping to secure the larger association events for Melbourne.