The research underpinning this report identifies the relative strengths of 350 destinations via the presence of their local intellectual leaders in the governing bodies of international associations that organize large conventions (500+ attendees). In this report, Intellectual Capital is described as a destination’s strength of representation in international association leadership. Key findings of the report include:
– A Top 50 ranking of destinations (cities & countries/territories) with the greatest influence in international associations.
– How well destinations leverage their local leaders by engaging them to bring conventions to the city (We term this as their “Harnessing Ratio” or the correlation between the number of international association meetings hosted or booked over the last 4 years (2018-2021) and number of local intellectual leaders on boards of international associations)
The report found a very high level of correlation between GainingEdge’s intellectual capital rankings and their International Convention Destination Competitive Index 2021 global rankings. The top 20 cities in terms of intellectual capital are all among the top 30 most competitive destinations in the said Competitiveness Index.
The report also found that among the top 50 cities, three European destinations led with the highest Harnessing Ratios: Prague (highest in the world at 95%), Dublin and Lisbon. In the Asia-Pacific region, Bangkok stands out as the Asia-Pacific destination with the highest Harnessing Ratio, while North America has two Canadian cities with high Ratios, Montreal and Vancouver. Based on its Harnessing Ratio, a destination can understand the available business potential and strategize on how this could be activated.
A case in point is Italy which is ranked 5th in our Country/Territory Index. The Italian meetings industry has recognized the fundamental role of intellectual capital. Their newly formed program named Italian Knowledge Leaders creates a strong partnership between the meetings industry and Italian association executives to promote Italy as a country of science, innovation and creativity. This program seeks to highlight the knowledge and scientific achievements for the public audience and create a formalized network of Italian scientists and professionals elected to run international associations in their business areas and scientific fields.
Read the full report below.