ICCA Report22 / ConferenCe & Meetings World / issUe 65Ten-year trendsthe international Congress and Convention assoCiation's statistiCs report on the international assoCiation Meetings Market 2001-2010 folloWed its annUal rankings report for 2011. We highlight soMe of the trends in the international assoCiation Market identified over the past deCade he ICCA 10-year Statistics Report, The Association Meetings Market 2001-2010, surveyed a market segmented in many ways: by size, by the kind of people who visit the meetings, by the purpose of the meetings as well as many other criteria.When segmenting the international meetings market by initiator, two primary markets can be defined: the corporate market and the non-corporate market. ICCA's area of expertise is in the international association market. This Words edited from iCCA's stAtistiCs report 2001-2010Tembraces medical meetings (the largest segment); scientific and other academic; trade organisations; professional bodies and social groupings. In terms of size, budget, duration and complexity there are massive variations. However, some similarities can be identified: Almost every 'specialty' has an association which holds one or more meetings Most associations have meetings that are repeated at regular intervals The meetings rotate, rarely returning to the same destination within a short time-span. The initiative to host a meeting often comes from a national association It is not unusual to find lead times of five years or more A growing minority of about 25-30 per cent of the decision making processes no longer includes an official bidding procedure, but rather a 'central initiator' who selects the location and venues based on strict criteria.ScopeThe 10-year statistics report is based on the ICCA Association Database, 20012002200320042005events were on the ICCA database, a figure that rose by 4,000 events throughout the following decadeentered the city top 10 rankings and has never left5,262meetings held in Europe were on the ICCA database. Figures for Asia/Middle East were 949, North America, 893 and Latin America, 4313,445Berlinenters the top 10 city rankings and has also held its place there ever sinceParisbecame the most popular city for meetings meeting the ICCA criteria, holding the No.1 position for the next six yearsViennaBelow: timeline of some key figures from the 10-year iCCa statistics report

ICCA ReportISSUE 65 / ConfErEnCE & MEEtIngS World / 23There are approximately 19,000 association meetings organised on a regular basis. The ICCA Association Database has collected information on 80% of themwhich means the figures cover meetings organised by international associations which take place on a regular basis and rotate between a minimum of three countries. It provides a 'snapshot' of qualifying events sampled on 9 May 2011. Europe emerges as the biggest home region for association headquarters, with 59 per cent of HQs based there over the past 10 years.Europe is also the most popular destination, with 54 per cent of the qualifying meetings being hosted there in 2010. However, Europe's market share has been decreasing, along with the relative popularity of North America and an increase in attractiveness of Asia/Middle East mostly and Latin America. Number of meetings per countryThe USA and Germany have been the first and second ranked countries, respectively, over the past 10 years, measured by the number of international meetings organised. Germany is narrowing the gap to the No.1, USA, while France, Italy, Spain, the UK have consistently held places in the top 10 over the decade.Number of meetings per cityMost cities have gradually attracted more meetings over the past decade. For the sixth year in a row, Vienna is the most popular city, event though there were fewer events in the city compared to previous years. Over the decade Barcelona is a strong contender, never lower than fifth place. Next to Vienna and Barcelona only Singapore has managed to attract a number of meetings that allowed it to be always among the top 10 cities.Low pointThe average number of participants per meeting reached its lowest point of the past decade in 2010 with 571 participants per international meeting. Although, since 2007, the average number of participants has stabilised. The highest average over the past 10 years (696) was in 2001.Over the past 10 years small meetings (50-249 participants) doubled their market share at the cost of meetings attracting over 500 participants. North America has been the region with the largest average of participants per meeting, its meetings attracting 5.37m people, compared to almost 5.2m people attending in 2009.Frequency and lengthThe market share of annual meetings has increased over the past 10 years, while meetings taking place less often than once a year are decreasing in relative numbers.May through November has always been the most popular time to organise meetings, with September the favourite month for associations, followed by June, October and May.Throughout the last decade the average length of meetings has been declining. The average in 2010 was 3.85 days. Venues usedOver the 10-year period the use of meeting facilities in hotels has been increasing, taking over the first place as most popular type of venue in 2005. This category consolidated its first 20062007200820092010average number of participants at ICCA qualifying meetingsICCA-ranked country Albania held two qualifying meetings this yearLowest585Olympic dividend pays off as the country moves to No.8 in the ICCA country rankings with 294 meetingsChina's peaked at 727 qualifying meetings held, holding the No.1 country spot in the rankings throughout the decadeUsadelegates attended ICCA ranked meetings, with nearly half of the figure coming from Europe5,371,787