Stockholm climbs up international meeting rankings

In 2016, Stockholm climbed from 23rd to 18th globally, and from 17th to 13th in Europe, in the ICCA rankings measuring international meetings. These are the city's best positions for a number of years.

Stockholm held 101 ICCA-approved meetings in 2016, compared to 89 the year before. Stockholm has now gone above cities such as Istanbul, Brussels, Rome and Milan in the world rankings.

Work to attract large conferences and gatherings to the Swedish capital takes different forms, namely building relationships with international organisations, working with the local academy and demonstrating the benefits for industry and the academy so that key individuals become interested in hosting a meeting.

"Arranging conferences is a long-term process; for us it's about positioning Stockholm and showing what our city represents, while also recognising both hospitality and infrastructure play an important role in bringing conferences here. For a number of years, our work has been set up with a view to bringing more conferences to Stockholm, and climbing up the rankings shows we are achieving this," says Karin Mäntymäki, Director Sales & Operations at Visit Stockholm.

"International meetings form an important part of Stockholm's tourism industry. Given how long we have worked strategically on meeting-related matters, our climb up the well-respected ICCA rankings is well-deserved. Taxis pose a major challenge for the city still, but at the same time Stockholm boasts an eminent reputation in the sciences, a world-class infrastructure and good hotels," says Thomas Andersson, CEO of Visit Stockholm.

About ICCA

ICCA measures international meetings of 50 or more people that rotate between at least three destinations.

ICCA – the International Congress and Convention Association – is the global community

and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry.

ICCA comprises over 1000 member companies and

organisations in almost 100 countries worldwide.

Further information can be found at www.iccaworld.org.