ICCA has released ICCA GlobeWatch: Business Analytics – Country & City Rankings 2025, its latest flagship research publication, analysing 12,438 international association meetings worldwide.
Compiled by the ICCA Research team, the report offers a more contextual view of global meeting activity, combining the traditional country and city rankings with insights by region, sector and meeting size. Europe remains the leading region, while the United States heads the country ranking. At city level, Lisbon takes first place, followed by Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and Singapore.
The 2025 edition also underlines the strategic value of association meetings beyond delegate numbers. Medical sciences, technology and science remain among the strongest sectors, while larger congresses continue to generate a disproportionate share of overall economic impact. The report also points to the importance of venue infrastructure, universities and ambassador programmes in shaping successful destination bids.
ICCA says the rankings reinforce association meetings as “catalysts for policy alignment, knowledge exchange, and long-term destination legacy”. This wider perspective positions congresses not only as business events, but as platforms for sector development, research visibility and international collaboration.
For convention bureaux, venues and association leaders, ICCA GlobeWatch 2025 provides evidence for advocacy, investment decisions and long-term destination planning in a global meetings landscape shaped by technology, geopolitics and sustainability.