The European-based International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) recently released its top 20 country and city rankings for 2007 with New Zealand, not surprisingly, nowhere on the list.
But that may be about to change with Conventions & Incentives New Zealand’s CEO, Alan Trotter, confirming the organisation is about to become a member of the international body. While this certainly won’t guarantee more business it is a step in the right direction for the New Zealand convention market. With the tools made available to ICCA members, the New Zealand industry, led by CINZ, should be able to track where and when international associations meetings are being held and if there are opportunities to entice them to hold upcoming events in New Zealand.
Mr Trotter said as well as joining ICCA, CINZ was employing a researcher to work on databases, and they were also joining the Union of International Associations (UIA) – the world’s oldest, biggest and most comprehensive source of information on global civil society – to “mine their databases”.
“We will [also] be attending the ICCA Congress in Vancouver in October,” Mr Trotter said.
“I would stress however, that the most effective way we have found to get this type of business is to work with associations in New Zealand affiliated to international organisations with a view to getting them to place a bid.
“We have a very effective support programme (CAP) funded by the New Zealand government which targets this business and has proved to be an outstanding success, so much so that we have just extended the contract to 2011 and gained additional funding to be more effective.
“We also attend EIBTM and IMEX as well as having a big stand at AIME.”
Table: ICCA country and city rankings measured by the number of meetings organised in 2007.
In the 2007 city and country rankings the United States and Vienna have topped their respective categories for the third year in a row.
The ICCA rankings cover meetings organised by international associations which take place on a regular basis and which rotate between a minimum of three countries. The data represents a “snapshot” of qualifying events in the International Congress and Convention Association database as sampled on April 14, 2008.
ICCA’s association database is designed as a sales and marketing resource for its members to target future international association meetings, which is why it does not include one-off events or those which do not move between locations.
This year the ICCA data researchers have identified more than 6500 events which took place in 2007, a rise of approximately 800 over 2006. Partly this reflects the strength of the market, and partly this is thanks to a record number of ICCA members sending their calendar information to help identify new events.
As has been the case since 2004, the USA and Germany are the number one and two countries respectively, measured by the number of international meetings organised in 2007. Spain, fifth in 2006, climbed two places to third in 2007, at the cost of The United Kingdom and France, which both dropped one place in the rankings to respectively fourth and fifth. Italy remains sixth, and Japan, which was twelfth in 2006, is seventh in 2007.
Brazil, which was the first Latin American country ever to make the top 10 in 2006, is consolidating its position by taking eighth place in 2007. Austria and Canada complete the top 10 at ninth and tenth place respectively. Belgium and Finland are both newcomers in the top 20.
As in 2005 and 2006, Vienna tops the chart as the most popular city; its first place has even become stronger compared to previous years. Berlin jumps four places to number two and Singapore remains third. Paris and Barcelona are fourth and fifth and Budapest remains sixth, but is now sharing sixth place with Lisbon.
Beijing is a newcomer in the top 10 and climbs from thirteenth place in 2006 to eighth in 2007, followed by Amsterdam, which climbs three places to ninth. Madrid, nineteenth in 2006, completes the top 10.
Taipei is a remarkable newcomer in the top 20 as it took fortieth place in 2006.
The city of Sydney is planning a full-scale assault on ICCA’s top 10 conference city rankings over the next five years, with an aim to increase international association business considerably.
Speaking at the IMEX exhibition in Frankfurt recently, Sydney Convention & Visitors Bureau managing director, Jon Hutchison said he believed the “stars had come into alignment” during the past six months as business and political leaders united behind a common vision for the city’s events sector.
Mr Hutchison said a succession of developments had created the right environment for a new push into key international markets, with the strategy involving a “whole-of-city” approach to winning new business and developing a long-term blueprint for the city’s future.
“Never before has Sydney had such support for its events industry and never before has there been such opportunity, created by a new unity among our city’s leaders and a passion to capitalise on the remarkable brand we have created for Sydney,” Mr Hutchison said.
“We intend to harness that new energy and take our International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) ranking into the world’s top 10 conference destinations in five years’ time, cementing our position as one of the world’s leading destinations for business events.”
Top
|