The 2019 city rankings captured 425 destinations, with Polish contenders in the following order:
- Warsaw – 34th with 71 meetings,
- Kraków – 48th with 54 meetings,
- Poznań – 143rd with 21 meetings,
- Gdańsk – 159th with 19 meetings,
- Wrocław – 191st with 15 meetings,
- Katowice – 267th with 10 meetings,
- Łódź – 307th with 8 meetings.
Recording an impressive increase in the number of association meetings compared to last year, Gdańsk moved up 37 places. Last year’s newcomer, Łódź climbed 48 spots. These results demonstrate the growing importance second– and third-choice destinations have for international association conferences.
Crucial for securing Poland’s stable position in the latest ICCA ranking, information about events meeting ICCA’s assessment criteria was collected thanks to Poland Convention Bureau POT’s cooperation with municipal and regional convention bureaux and professional congress organisers (PCOs) recommended by POT. The outcome is particularly inspiring when you consider that the total number of meetings captured worldwide dropped from 13,891 in 2018 to 13,254 in 2019. Despite this downturn, Europe still hosted the largest number of events in 2019 (53%). The U.S.A. remained in the top country spot, while Germany and France dominated in Europe, with the latter moving up to take the third position from Spain.
One of the most prominent associations of the meetings industry, ICCA operates in almost 100 countries all over the world and comprises of over 1,100 member companies and organisations specialised in handling, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events. For more than 50 years it has been collecting and analysing data and creating communication channels in the field of arranging international business meetings. On the basis of collected data, ICCA compiles an annual ranking.
