WORLD – Familiar faces emerge at the top of the Union of International Associations (UIA) city rankings for 2009, with the USA, as before, topping the country rankings for qualifying association meetings and Singapore the city table.
Singapore and France are second and third in the country list, for which the UIA’s criteria for qualifying meetings means there must be at least 300 delegates from five different countries. The conference must last a minimum of five days and 40 per cent of the participants must also come from abroad.
In the city list, Singapore was clear of Brussels, which overtook third-placed Paris.
The total number of meetings answering the UIA criteria and taking place in the 2009 reporting year was 11,929, up from 11,423 in 2008.
Brussels is top European city and second in the world in the rankings, something Belgium’s minister for the economy, Benoit Cerexhe, describes as “A very good omen for the economic future of the region”.
Brussels International – Tourism and Congress convention bureau said the destination was being chosen on the basis of two main criteria: its central position (34 per cent) and the presence of international organisations (20 per cent). The city has also seen a 30 per cent leap in overnight stays for meetings visitors between 2000 and 2008.
Two major events also contributed to the 2009 tourism figures: the opening of the Magritte Museum and of the Square.
Cerexhe said strengthening visitor hospitality policies and setting up the Brussels Booking Desk had also contributed to the figures which he describes as “good news for the economic future of our capital since this sector already accounts for 20,000 jobs and generates more than four billion euros a year”.
The worldwide breakdown (market share) for meetings in 2009 by continent, according to UIA, is:
• Europe 54.1%
• Asia 23.1%
• America (North & South) 15.7%
• Africa 4.9%
• Australasia / Pacific 2.4%
