Nur-Sultan, placed 335th in 2018 with 7 events, has climbed to 221st place in 2019 in the World Ranking. Last year documented 12 international association congresses held in the Kazakh capital. By the number of events held, Nur-Sultan overtook cities such Kiev, Kazan and Yerevan, and caught up to already more established meeting destinations such as Tbilisi, Baku or Bonn.
“This is fantastic for Nur-Sultan, and we are delighted to see the city so significantly climb the World rankings. The climb is a testament to the increased interest in Nur-Sultan and Kazakhstan as a MICE destination, combined with new initiatives and structured and targeted work of the Astana Convention Bureau, and collaboration with its partners and local professional community. Our consolidated efforts provided greater strength and unity of the market and therefore enhanced results” says Helena Mahuas, Deputy Director of the Astana Convention Bureau.
ICCA rankings are the most comprehensive global benchmark of the international association meetings sector gauging how well destinations are performing in the international meetings arena. In 2019, over 13,000 association meetings took place globally with Paris holding the top city spot with 237 events. Lisbon ranked second, and Berlin ranked third.
The U.S.A. continues to top the country rankings, with Germany second and France third. Kazakhstan had climbed from 99th place to 79th place in 2019, which is another significant achievement.
Notes to editors:
The ICCA Statistics Reports are based on the ICCA Association Database, which means the figures cover meetings organized by international associations which:
1. Take place on a regular basis
2. Rotate between a minimum of three countries/territories
3. Have at least 50 participants