The Mobile World Congress attracts 80k delegates to Barcelona every year.

 

Barcelona comes out first in the ranking of yearly attendance to conventions and conferences. The port city greeted 122.877 visitors last year, ahead of Amsterdam and Istambul.

By Staff Reporter in Barcelona

27/10/2014

Barcelona tops the ranking of yearly attendance to conventions and conferences. The port city counted 122.877 participants in fair trades last year. The Catalan capital outperformed Vienna (114,166) and Istambul (112,175). Still, Barcelona fared below its all-time record high of 140,000 delegates set in 2010.

The annual report drawn up by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranks Madrid second in the chart of annual events. Up to 186 events took place in the Spanish capital city in 2013.

Madrid ranked behind Paris (204 trade fairs) but outperformed Vienna (182) and Barcelona (179).

Precisely, the Catalan capital city ranks second in the ten-year attendance chart 2003-2013. Over that period the city has welcomed 926,111 delegates, ahead of Paris (878,948) and trailing behind Vienna (935,156).

Mobile congress

Turisme de Barcelona, the city’s official tourism agency, stressed that the ranking fails to include participants in the Mobile World Congress. The IT fair attracts upwards of 80,000 attendants to the port city every year.

What is more, the agency estimates that all fairs, conventions and conferences attracted 289,191 delegates to Barcelona last year.

Flowing from the above, the body estimates a 1.26 bn financial impact in Barcelona.

via Barcelona clinches top spot in world’s convention ranking.