ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association, announced 2014 Rankings for cities and countries. Istanbul anchors its position in ICCA’s Top 10 city rank. In 2014, Istanbul ranked at 8th place with a total of 130 meetings. ICCA publishes its meetings tables annually and to be included, meetings must be held on a regular basis, have at least 50 delegates, and rotate between at least three countries.
According to the data released by ICCA, Istanbul which has been ranked 8th with 146 congresses in 2013 dropped one place in 2014. Parallel to last year’s data, Turkey which had been ranked 18th with 221 meetings in 2013, has been ranked 19th with 190 meetings in 2014. Turkey has been ranked in Top 20 second year in a row and the country has listed 11th destination in Europe in 2014 (10th in Europe in 2013).
Commenting on the top 10 ranking, Istanbul Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) Chairman Ibrahim Caglar said, “As a top international congress destination; Istanbul offers accessibility, a large number of high-quality meeting and congress centers, a high-standard and good variety of accommodation as well as historical, cultural and natural attractions, stellar-quality customer services and more. Istanbul is also a hub for both Education, Knowledge and R&D in the region with its 49 universities that are technologically and academically advanced. Exciting up-and-coming infrastructure projects include a third airport that is due to open in 2018 which will cater to 150 million passengers, making Istanbul the largest airline hub in the world, and a new road tunnel planned which will connect Asia and Europe. A third bridge along the Bosphorus is currently being constructed as part of the 260km-long Northern Marmara Motorway and once completed later this year, it will be the longest combined motorway/railway bridge in the world and the world’s ninth longest suspension bridge.”
