The USA performed better than any other country when it came
to hosting international association meetings last year, according to the ICCA
Rankings 2021, just published.
The country topped the Destination Performance Index (DPI) –
a new algorithm added to the Rankings that acknowledges the impact of the pandemic
on the meetings industry.
Of the 512 meetings planned in the USA, 32 were ‘unaffected’,
268 were held ‘virtually’ and 54 were converted to a ‘hybrid’ format – giving the
USA a ‘business continuity’ tally of 354.
That was 91 more than second place Spain, which was able to proceed
with 263 of its 369 scheduled meetings, with 38 unaffected, 173 held
virtually, and 52 as hybrid events.
Germany, France, and Italy make up the top five. Three Asian
countries feature in the top 10 – Japan (joint seventh with Portugal), China
(ninth) and Korea taking 10th spot. The UK was sixth.
The DPI is an aggregate of six different performance
indicators – number of planned meetings, number that were unaffected, virtual
meetings, hybrid meetings, digitalisation, and business continuity. In most
cases, but not all, the higher the business continuity the higher the ranking.
ICCA acknowledges this is an imperfect science, however, as
they were unable to ascertain how much involvement, if any, the host city had
in developing meetings that switched to virtual.
Meanwhile the different approaches to Covid-19 restrictions, taken
both regionally and on a country-by-country basis, means making fair
comparisons between destinations is trickier than normal.
Of the three Asian countries in the top 10, for example, none
features in the Top 10 rankings of unaffected meetings, which could be attributed
to stricter Covid-19 policies in the region.
Vienna perches atop the City Rankings, the top 20 of which
is dominated by European cities. Some 92 of the 112 meetings scheduled to take
place in the Austrian capital took place in some capacity.
Lisbon comes a close second with a business continuity score
of 91, Athens is in third place with 66, Barcelona (63) is in joint fourth with
Singapore, which has a business continuity score of 75. Both Lisbon and Athens
hosted more ‘unaffected’ meetings as a percentage of the whole than Singapore, hence why they were higher in the rankings despite a lower continuity score.
Continuing a long-term trend, while the USA is the top performing
country, it barely makes a dent in the ICCA Rankings on a city basis, with only
Boston scraping into the Top 50. This suggests an even distribution of association
meetings are being held across a number of cities in the USA.
In a foreword to the report, ICCA chief executive Senthil
Gopinath said: “As covid restrictions are generally being lifted around the
world, we are looking back at the year 2021 while being mindful of the current
economic and geopolitical issues at hand. Be it pandemics, geopolitical
tensions or any other kind of disruptive global event, the years 2020 and 2021
have demonstrated that the only proper response to volatility is adaptability.”
He added: “Although we have yet to return to pre-pandemic
numbers, we have gained significant ground on the road to full recovery.
Further, we have transformed the meetings industry in the process. The technological
advancements implemented out of necessity will serve our industry immensely in the
years to come by preparing us for what some are already referring to as the
Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is characterised by a fusion of technologies
that will, ultimately, blur the lines between the physical, digital, and
biological spheres.”
The number of unaffected meetings across the Rankings came
to less than 10 per cent.
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
