The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has released its annual analysis of association meetings worldwide. The latest ICCA Ranking Report examines 8000 meetings scheduled for the year 2021 and categorises them based on how the meetings were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also compares last year’s affected meetings with ICCA’s analysis of meetings in 2020.
After a hiatus in 2020, ICCA Rankings have returned to the 2021 ICCA’s Destination Performance Index (DPI). The DPI ranks destinations’ success in winning the original bid, COVID-19 event policies, adaptability and technological capabilities to convert on-site events into virtual or hybrid events – thereby maintaining business continuation.
The report reveals that the year 2021 brought out a “show must go on” mentality in the industry. For example, the market share of virtual and hybrid meetings doubled in just one year. Business continuation also increased by 30% while business cancellation dropped from 61% to 31%. The Middle East had the highest business continuation rate of all regions (77%), followed by Latin America (72%) and Asia (71%). Of all regions, Latin America demonstrated the most significant growth in business continuation compared to 2020, with an increase of 35%.
The full 2021 ICCA Ranking (Destination Performance Index [DPI]) is available to ICCA members and complements ICCA’s online Destination Comparison Tool (DCT).
Source: ICCA