Berlin has moved into the top three international conference destinations, as shown by the latest statistics from the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA). Having hosted 172 events held by international associations in the past year, the German capital moved up one position to become the third most popular city for conferences and conventions in the world. The city is behind Vienna (195 events) and Paris (181) and ahead of Madrid (164 events) and Barcelona (154).

Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor of Berlin, says: “Berlin is moving to the top of the international congress business. With additional event capacities, such as the new CityCube Berlin, the city is also well-positioned for the convention business for the long term and is well able to handle the diversity of the requests.  Berlin is also such an attractive city that large organisations and companies like to put on their events in the German capital. Every international congress that is held in Berlin is thus also a positive testimony on the city.”

This has required a lot of hard work in the face of stiff competition, emphasises Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin: “Being so high up in the league is both an honour and an incentive to do even more, especially since we face aggressive competition from financially strong competitors in Asia and the Arab Gulf states, all vying for conventions. The fact that Berlin has moved up a position shows that it is perceived as a top convention location by international convention planners.”

Since 2008, the number of organisations holding conferences in Berlin has steadily increased. The German capital has been successfully asserting its status as a top conference location for the past eight years. The ICCA ranking is an important indicator in the international congress business. It helps organisers decide where to hold their events.

Development of Berlin as a convention location according to ICCA Statistics: 

* The ICCA only counts regular events held by international organisations with at least 50 participants that have already been held in at least three different countries.