Vienna is once again the city hosting the most congresses worldwide. In 2024, the Austrian capital held 154 events, placing it ahead of Lisbon (153) and Singapore (144), the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) announced. Trailing behind were Barcelona (142), Prague (131), Paris (124), Seoul (124), Bangkok (115), Rome (114) and Athens (111). Vienna last topped the rankings in 2022 and sat in fourth place in 2023.
In Vienna, the Vienna Holding and its subsidiary VIECON (Vienna Congress Convention Center) dominate the congress scene. “Fifty-five of these events took place at the VIECON Center, which represents more than one-third of the meetings held in Vienna overall,” Vienna Holding said in a press release.
Domestic Figures and Economic Impact
According to Austrian counts, Vienna hosted 6,619 congresses and corporate meetings in 2024, drawing around 670,000 participants. This exceeded the 2023 record by three percent. The city gained 1.9 million overnight stays and generated €1.32 billion in economic output, including €365 million in tax revenue. “Further developing the city as a conference destination therefore plays a central role in Vienna’s Economic and Innovation Strategy 2030,” said Mayor Michael Ludwig. Norbert Kettner, director of Vienna Tourism, hopes that “in future every tenth overnight stay in the city will come from a congress or corporate meeting.”
Austria Ranks 16th Globally
In Austria as a whole, ICCA data show a strong performance: the country hosted 233 congresses, two-thirds of them in Vienna. That places Austria 16th worldwide, with the United States leading on 709 congresses, followed by Italy (635) and Spain (536).
