Best Meeting Destinations in 2022/2023

As 2022 came to a close, the best meeting destinations across Europe were named as part of the Meetings Star evaluation. The evaluation comprised 125 meetologues, a record-breaking number of destinations, including the most prominent European meeting hubs. The official Meetings Star gala award ceremony will take place during Conventa 2023 in February.

This year marks eleven years of the Meeting Experience Index (MTLG), an original matrix for evaluating destinations, published every year by Kongres Magazine. It is a reference system that enables a realistic comparison of destinations over time.

The Meeting Experience Index is one of the most complex destination evaluations that is not based solely on the number of congresses or events taking place at a destination but also delves into analysis holistically. The methodology addresses all key segments of the industry and MICE products. 75 evaluation criteria are used to determine the final destination score. That is why the Meeting Experience Index has become a recognised platform for meeting planners when they select destinations.

MEETINGS STAR BROCHURE

We have summarized the best venues and meeting hotels in 2022/2023. If you want to see all of the Meetings Star finalists and learn about individual destinations in detail, read the special brochure below.

The corona crisis largely digitalised the meetings industry sector. Consequently, the habits of event organisers changed radically. For 2023, we prepared a slew of novelties that will enable our benchmark to reflect the post-corona situation on the market.

1. Nomad List Overall Score

You may be wondering what digital nomads have in common with the meetings industry. After careful analysis, we concluded that the criteria assessed by the Nomad List correlate with the needs of digital event organisers. Numerous event organisers have already moved their events to digital nomad-friendly destinations. The overall score contains various criteria ranging from internet connection speed, air quality, safety, quality of English and quality of life. The latter is measured through several indicators, including living expenses and visa policies. For these reasons, we added the Nomad List Overall Score to our final mark for 2022/2023.

2. A new addition to the maximum capacities of destinations

The maximum capacities of destinations are complemented with the following information:

• Number of studios for digital and hybrid events
• Average internet speed when organising an event in Mbps

Both segments have become quintessential factors during the corona crisis and are often topics of inquiry by event organisers.

3. ICCA Index

After a hiatus during the covid crisis, ICCA again published its ICCA Index. The study sheds more light on how the pandemic impacted the meetings industry in the past years.

4. ACI Index

In 2022, ACI EUROPE once more published the Airport Industry Connectivity Report, which documents the ongoing effects of the recovery after the COVID-19 crisis on air connectivity. However, as economies have only re-opened, air connectivity is taking time to come back. Recovery is far from uniform, with significant differences between destinations.

5. GDS Index

The 2022 Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) represents a sustainably-oriented addition to this year’s evaluation. The index has shown that we must work together to regenerate destinations.

Below is an overview of the best destinations according to each category:

XL MEETING DESTINATIONS
Destinations that can host more than 2,000 congress attendees (39 evaluated destinations)

Winner: VIENNA, Austria, with a final mark of 4.78

L MEETING DESTINATIONS
Destinations that can host up to 2,000 congress attendees (29 evaluated destinations)

Winner: TALLINN, Estonia, with a final mark of 4.52

M MEETING DESTINATIONS
Destinations that can host up to 1,200 congress attendees (27 evaluated destinations)

Winner: Dubrovnik, Croatia, with a final mark of 4.35

S MEETING DESTINATIONS
Destinations that can host up to 500 congress attendees (30 evaluated destinations)

Winner: BOHINJ, Slovenia, with a final mark of 4.06

BEST IN NEW EUROPE
The best destinations in the New Europe region

WINNER: ATHENS, Greece, with a final mark of 4,62

BEST IN EX-YU
The best destinations in the Former Yugoslavia region

WINNER: LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, with a final mark of 4,50

The results for 2022/2023 will be officially announced during Conventa, taking place between 1 and 2 February in Ljubljana.

You can still register for Conventa 2023 and attend the gala award ceremony. Find out more here.