Sheffield ranks 7th most popular English city for international conferences
Sheffield has ranked joint 7th most popular English city for international association conferences in the International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) annual Country and City Rankings, and 12th in the list of UK cities.
ICCA is the global association leader for the international meetings industry and specialises in the international association meetings sector. The annual Country and City rankings returned this year after a two-year absence due to the effects of the pandemic on the international conference market.
Bidding for international conferences is a large part of the Conference Team’s work at Marketing Sheffield and is undertaken working closely with our network of Conference Ambassadors. Sheffield’s Conference Ambassador Programme is one of the longest running initiatives of its kind in the UK and has underpinned the long-term success of the city’s conference calendar by supporting academics, medical specialists, and experts from industry sectors, in attracting major conferences to be hosted in the city.
Sheffield’s line-up of international conferences is impressive and includes the Annual International Stillbirth Alliance Conference, NDE In Nuclear Conference, European Hair Research Society and the International Society for Study of Celiac Disease. The Child Health Technology Conference, now in its 3rd year led by Conference Ambassador Paul Dimitri, attracted delegates from more than 13 countries across the world creating a global community of exerts in child health technology.
Emma France, Marketing Sheffield said. ‘The ICCA country and city rankings always attract huge industry interest so it’s fantastic to see Sheffield climbing the list of England’s’ top cities from a position of 13th in 2019 to joint 7th. Achievements like this don’t come easily in the international marketplace and are down to a combination of factors here in Sheffield- world leading research at our universities and hospital trusts, our expert bidding team here at Marketing Sheffield and a proactive network of conference ambassadors working side by side with us on the bids. We’re also thankful for the support of the MeetEngland team at Visit Britain on all things international.’
The report uses data from 2022 with each conference formally verified. The United Kingdom is 6th in the Worldwide Rankings with the USA taking the number 1 spot. London is the most popular English and UK City (number 10 in the world rankings) with Vienna taking the top spot.