Slovenia Ranking on 21st Place According to the ICCA Statistics Report for 2018

CD Congress Centere, Ziga Zupan, Sportida doo, slovenia.info
CD Congress Centere, Ziga Zupan, Sportida doo, slovenia.info

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) announced the hardly expected statistical report for 2018 – the ICCA Statistics Report. According to the number of events, Slovenia ranked in the 21st place in Europe and in 41st globally.

The ICCA Statistics Reports are based on the ICCA Association Database, which means the figures cover meetings organised by international associations according to ICCA’s criteria:

  • a meeting must take place on a regular basis,
  • host at least 50 participants,
  • and rotate between a minimum of three countries to be included in the Database.

ICCA’s Association Database is designed as a sales and marketing resource for its members to target future international association meetings, which is why it does not include one-off events or those which do not move between locations. The report has a strong marketing impact, since it ranks countries and cities in popularity.

Unfortunately, the research does not cover all international events in destinations, it does not include corporate, business and intergovernmental meetings, incentive trips and other events, which all represent an important part of the global meetings industry. This was acknowledged also by the ICCA CEO Senthil Gopinath himself:

“Although the most comprehensive global benchmark of the international association meetings sector, the ICCA rankings should not be mistaken as providing an overview of the entire meetings industry. We always seek to encourage and advise ICCA members to consult other rankings and collect their own meetings statistics to help them provide a full picture of their performance.”

Good ranking of Slovenia

According to the number of events, in 2018, Slovenia ranked in the 21st place with 85 events in the European scale, and according to the final number of participants, Slovenia ranked 23rd place with 21,595 participants. Just next to us were placed neighboring Croatia (108 events and 26,083 participants) and Hungary (129 events and 31,398 participants). On a global scale, Slovenia ranked 41st place in the number of events category and 45th in the number of participants category.

Thanks to Slovenian capital congress offer, the biggest proportion was contributed by Ljubljana. As we predicted at the end of 2017, last year was a it was a record-breaking year for congress Ljubljana. Ljubljana ranked 24th in the European ranking with 59 events and 26th place with over 17,500 participants. On a global scale, Ljubljana ranked 41st place in the number of events category and 59th in the number of participants category.

“2018’s record rankings are a pleasant reminder that the development of meetings industry in Ljubljana is moving in the right direction. Our city’s growing visibility in the international meeting industry market can be attributed to several factors, including continuous marketing efforts by the key local stakeholders active in international associations bidding procedures, as well as in the corporate events segment. The ongoing expansion and quality improvement of the city’s tourist offer in a broader sense is another important element enhancing Ljubljana’s destination appeal.” As stated by the Ljubljana Convention Bureau.

Ljubljana is confident about its future.

“Three new hotel openings are planned by 2021 that will bring a range of modern capacities for various types of events. With the upgrade and renovation of two other properties (Four Points by Sheraton Mons Ljubljana in Best Western Premier Hotel Slon) and some smaller boutique projects, the estimated total number of rooms in town in the next five years will amount to approximately 4.100 (45% increase of the current capacity).”

Additionally, the new passenger terminal at the Ljubljana Airport is to be completed by spring 2021.

“We are confident to say that some fresh wind will be blowing through Ljubljana’s tourism industry in the near future, making the pursuit of its main strategic goals in the broader sense of the word – the extension of visitors’ stay, higher expenditure and de-seasonalization – easier to pursue and realize.”

The future is bright

Slovenia has been recording good results for many years, thanks to the continuous increase in the volume of marketing and investment activities by key stakeholders who are actively involved in the development of the congress and tourist offer. These activities, among other things, contribute to a good reputation of Slovenia as a congress and tourist destination on the global market. We are very proud of the good results and figures Slovenia is recording for the past consecutive years. The future of congress Slovenia is undoubtedly bright!