Athens ranks among the top 20 destinations for meetings and events globally

Athens ranked as the 17th top destination worldwide for association meetings, moving up seven positions from its 24th position in 2018. It is the  highest ranking ever at the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Annual Report 2019,

This is Athens-Convention & Visitors Bureau is an active member of ICCA.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic we find ourselves at a  very crucial time for tourism. The report and data comes in such a time and shows how Athens is gaining importance in the European associations’ meetings market. Athens rose to 12th place for 2019, from its 16th place in 2018.

In total, 107 international association meetings were held in Athens in 2019 with 43.520 participants in comparison to 90 meetings held in 2018 with 36.841 participants. The average total expenditure from all meetings held in Athens in 2019 rose to approximately 87,8 million euros with the average expenditure per delegate per meeting calculated at 2.023€.

Such rise is quite remarkable international meetings industry, and Athens is also helping boost Greece in the global meetings sector. Greece has climbed four spots since 2018, now holding the 21st position in the global ICCA rankings for 2019, with 202 international associations meetings that year.

In Europe, Greece rose to the 13th place compared to the 14th in 2018. Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom are in the top 4 positions in Europe.

“In these challenging times for tourism, the data published for Athens makes us look to the future of the city with a heightened positivity. The City of Athens, through the Athens Development & Destination Management Agency and This is Athens-Convention & Visitors Bureau, will keep working hard to strengthen its position in the global map of the meetings industry. We will continue to invest in a steady and dynamic pace in the promotion of the destination and the city’s development with international conventions, corporate meetings and incentives.”, states Evangelos Vlachos, CEO of Athens Development & Destination Management Agency. 

●      Athens is a top choice for international association meetings in areas of medical sciences (23,4%), technology (13,4%), science (9,2%) and industrial matters (8,5%). 

●      In 10 years’ time, the number of the meetings participants held in Athens rose from 22.545 in 2010, to 43.520 in 2019.

●      As for the time of year, the majority of conferences in Athens are held in the months of October (18,7%), September (16,8%), May (11,2%), April (10,3%) and June (10,3%).

Get in Contact with the This is Athens-Convention & Visitors Bureau:
Anna-Maria Chatzidaki | Marketing Manager