Brussels retained first place in the new U IA ranking for congress cities. Our capital is the world’s leading city for international meetings organised by international organisations. The ranking appeared in the UlA’s 65th International Meetings Statistics Report. The recent addition of The Association Place, a real hub for international associations, has strengthened Brussels’ position.
Every year, we look forward to the I-JIA rankings for convention cities. They are one of the most important benchmarks in the meetings industry and are published in the annual International Meetings Statistics Report. As in the previous edition, our capital is at the very top of the rankings. This means that Brussels boasts the largest number of international meetings held by international non-profit organisations.
Brussels still firmly in the lead
In 2023, there were 8,486 international meetings organised by an international non-profit organisation. More than half of them took place in Europe. Of these, 620 were organised in Brussels. The Austrian capital Vienna ranks second with 298 conferences, with Tokyo, Japan in third place.
Brussels has, therefore, strengthened its position as the leading congress city. Between 2004 and 2023, no city in the world has hosted more international association congresses. Brussels comes first in the ranking of the past 20 years. Brussels occupies first place, followed by Singapore, Vienna and Paris. Seoul rounds off the top five. In the European ranking, Brussels’ first place is even clearer. Our capital hosted almost twice as many international association meetings between 2004 and 2023 than Paris and almost three times as many as London.
The Association Place
According to Patrick Bontinck, CEO of visit.brussels, Brussels’ strong performance is no coincidence. “Some 2,470 international associations have their headquarters in our capital. No city has more. These organisations can count on the active support of visit.brussels l Convention and Association Bureau. Last year, to highlight the importance of international associations for Brussels, we even inuagurated a new venue, The Association Place”.
Elisabeth Van Ingelgem, Director of the Convention and Association Brureau added: “Brussels makes a special effort to assist international associations. With The Association Place, we now have a genuine hotspot for international associations. The aim is to make it the primary gateway to
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international association life in Brussels and provide the sector with a space for meeting, debate and knowledge exchange”
The Association Place is located in a town house at number 63 avenue d’Auderghem, in the Brussels commune of Etterbeek.
