Barcelona retains its position as the world’s second top city to host the most international congresses, with a total of 148 professional meetings, 13 more than in 2009.
Barcelona is closing the gap on the leader, Vienna, which held 154 meetings, according to the 2010 world rankings compiled by the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) (ICCA Statistic 2010) reports the Barcelona Convention Bureau.
The ICCA collates data on all the professional meetings that rotate on a regular basis between at least three countries, and attract a minimum of 50 delegates.
Barcelona, which attracted 81,933 delegates, also ranks second in terms of delegate numbers at professional meetings, and surpasses the Austrian capital, which ranks fourth in this respect, with 69,573 delegates, according to the latest individual ICCA attendance figures for 2008.
Berlin, which attracts 106,171 delegates, is the world leader.
The most important European cities head the world ranking of meetings tourism and, in 2009, countries in Central Europe and the Mediterranean gained ground over those in Northern Europe.
Paris ranks third, after Vienna and Barcelona, with 147 professional meetings which, according to the 2008 figures, attracted more than 70,000 delegates.
Berlin, which ranks fourth, and Madrid, which ranks sixth, are two other important hubs, with 138 and 114 meetings respectively.
A number of cities outside Europe are also among the top ten, with Singapore in fifth place, and Sydney tenth.
