Table of meetings in 2016:
- 1 Paris 196
- 2 Vienna 186
- 3 Barcelona 181
- 4 Berlin 176
- 5 London 153
- 6 Singapore 151
- 7 Amsterdam 144
- 8 Madrid 144
- 9 Lisbon 138
- 10 Seoul 137
- 11 Prague 126
- 12 Bangkok 121
- 13 Dublin 118
- 14 Copenhagen 115
- 15 Beijing 113
Dublin has moved up five places to 13th on the international convention circuit, while overall and Ireland has risen six places.
The latest International Congresses and Conventions Association put Paris in first place, with 196 international association meetings last year, and Dublin narrowly behind Bangkok (121 meetings) with 118 conventions. Dublin was ranked 10th in the European rankings (up four places from 2015).
Ireland ranked 26th worldwide (hosting a total of 157 conferences in 2016), which was up six places from 2015, while Ireland ranked 16th in the European rankings, up three places. Failte Ireland said Dublin’s performance this year was particularly pleasing as it placed ahead of competitors such as Copenhagen, Brussels, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Patrick O’Donovan, Minster of State for Tourism, said: “We are certainly punching above our weight with Dublin and Ireland ranking ahead of larger and much more established destinations. Given how lucrative this sector is, I think we should all be pleased that Ireland is firmly on the map.”
Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly said: “Our team is working hard on growing the Business Tourism pipeline and, in 2016 alone, they successfully identified and generated over 575 international business tourism leads for business events due to take place over the next 5 years. We are still hungry for more business and have ambitious growth plans for Dublin and regional centres such as Cork, Limerick, Kerry and Galway. Throughout this year we will be chasing every lead and pitching for every potential win to ensure we continue to rise up the rankings.”
The push for more business will continue as Fáilte Ireland’s Dublin Convention Bureau targets new British business at its “Meet Dublin in London” event where over 300 British meetings and events buyers will have the opportunity to meet directly with Irish hoteliers, business meeting venues and conference organisers to generate new business for the conference and meetings sector in Dublin.
The pitching will take place on the Silver Sturgeon boat located on the River Thames at a tailored event which will include an informal networking evening hosted by Irish celebrities Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy.
The full ICCA report can be found here.
