ICCA ranks countries and cities around the world, based on how many eligible international association meetings they have held in the previous calendar year.
The United States topped the country rankings, hosting 792 international meetings – 83 more than 2024 – with Italy coming in second on 616 meetings. Germany, Spain and the UK took the remaining places in the top five, while Japan came in sixth, followed by France, Portugal and the Netherlands, with China rounding out the top 10.
Australia hosted 14 more international meetings in 2025 compared to 2024 to move up the rankings three places, from 17 to 14.
Meanwhile, New Zealand hosted an additional 22 meetings in 2025 to rise up the ranks from 48th to 45th.
In the city rankings, Lisbon came in on top, hosting 188 meetings, followed by Paris on 174 and Barcelona on 166. Europe dominated the top 10, taking out seven places, while Singapore came in fifth, Seoul ranked ninth and Tokyo was 10th. Last year’s list-topper, Vienna, was forth, despite hosting more meetings in 2025.
From a local perspective, Brisbane’s performance was the most remarkable, with the Queensland capital hosting almost double the number of international meetings in 2025 compared to 2024 to leap up the rankings from 94 to 49 and become Australia’s second best performing city after Sydney.
Sydney slid down the rankings slightly, hosting one less meeting in 2025 and falling from 30 to 37 in the rankings.
Melbourne, which was ranked just one place lower than Sydney in 2024, hosted 17 fewer international meetings in 2025 and dropped from 31 to 58 in the rankings.
There was a mixture of rises and falls for other Australian destinations – Perth held six fewer meetings and fell from 105 to 151, while Adelaide held three additional meetings and rose from 219 to 198. The Gold Coast also rose, from 293 to 211 on the back of hosting six more international meetings in 2025. Cairns and Canberra also rose, while Darwin fell.
In New Zealand, Auckland held six more meetings in 2025 and climbed from 112 to 103 in the city rankings. Christchurch was the second highest ranked New Zealand city, sitting at 158 after hosting 17 meetings, a rise from 2024 when it hosted 12 meetings and was ranked 199.
The capital, Wellington, also rose substantially, by nearly 100 places, from 293 to 198 after hosting twice as many international meetings in 2025.
