An annual survey by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), a prominent global meetings organization in the Netherlands, reveals the leading destinations for association meetings around the world. Once again, the United States and Germany rank as the top two countries for international group events, while Vienna for the fifth consecutive year holds onto its status as the most popular city, followed by Barcelona, Paris, Berlin and Singapore, respectively. Marketing Challenges International, a full-service destination marketing firm in New York City and the North America marketing and sales office for the Convention Bureaus of Vienna, Barcelona and Berlin, would like to salute its esteemed travel partners for being honored by ICCA this year.

"The global meetings landscape is vast and competitive. However, we would like to applaud ICCA for recognizing Vienna, Barcelona and Berlin as standout destinations for association meetings," says Michel Couturier, founder and president of Marketing Challenges International. "We are proud to be the North America partner of these world-class cities and congratulate them on their success."

The ICCA rankings represent meetings organized by international associations which take place on a regular basis and which rotate between a minimum of three countries.  This year, ICCA data also shows that 8,294 events took place in 2009, representing 800 more events than the previous year. ICCA attributes the increase partly to the strength of the association meetings market and its members providing new event details. The full ICCA statistics report for 2009 will be released to its members at the end of June.