The UIA (Union of International Associations) has published its latest meeting statistics. According to the statistics, Vienna is – as in the previous year – in 4th place worldwide. Of Vienna’s 2018 international conferences, 401 meet the UIA’s counting criteria.
At €1.198 billion, in 2018 Vienna’s contribution to Austrian national value creation once exceeded the billion mark. “I’m delighted that Vienna has again succeeded in achieving a top ranking in a globally very competitive environment and I thank everyone in the Viennese meeting industry, including the congress centers and venues, the hotels and agencies, and of course the customers who we persuaded to come to Vienna,” says Christian Woronka, Head of the Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB) and Market Management at the Vienna Tourist Board. He calls Vienna’s good performance the result of an “excellent cooperation”. As part of the Visitor Economy Strategy 2025, the company will work together with its stakeholders to continually develop their destination offerings for the meeting segment in order to further strengthen their future position in the top league.
The list is currently headed by Singapore (1,117 UIA criteria). Brussels (733) and Seoul (431) rank second and third respectively. Vienna is followed by Tokyo (313), Paris (259), Madrid (190), London (183), Barcelona (148) and Geneva (145) in the top ten.
Austria achieved 6th place in the country rankings, having hosted 472 events. Singapore came top with 1,177 events, followed by South Korea (854) and Belgium (849). The USA lies in 4th place (592) ahead of Japan (579), Austria, France (455), Spain (441), the UK (329), and Germany (296). In 2018 Vienna contributed around 85% to the overall Austrian result.