Fifth place in the national ICCA Ranking for Leiden, European City of Science 2022
Leiden Convention Bureau (LCB), an initiative of Leiden&Partners, continues to claim a top 5 position for Leiden on ICCA's (International Congress and Convention Association) ranking of national conference destinations for 2022. The first position is contributed to Amsterdam, followed by Rotterdam, Utrecht and Maastricht. Leiden ranks fifth place over 2022, the year in which Leiden was European City of Science and therefore in the spotlight for science in Europe.
16 international conferences
Leiden has had 16 international conferences in 2022 that met the requirements of ICCA. This had led to Leiden ranking 80th in Europe and 129th worldwide. The Netherlands is doing well worldwide at 8th place in the ranking, with 253 international conferences on an annual basis, and the USA still running first on the list.
Corine van der Ceelen, manager of Leiden Convention Bureau is happy with the result. "A consistent 5th position in the annual ranking is a remarkable achievement for the 22nd most populated city in the Netherlands. It's a reward for the efforts of Leiden Convention Bureau, our conference ambassadors and all our conference partners. The title of European City of Science 2022 has given the city of Leiden a place in the spotlight of science on a European scale. I believe that this title has been and will continue to be a great magnet for international conferences and associations to choose Leiden as their destination. In the years to come, the ambition for Leiden is to maintain the legacy that the title European City of Science has given Leiden, and to really make an impact for Leiden as a city where science flourishes."
ICCA ranking
ICCA has published the annual Country - and City - Rankings for the year 2022. This yearly ranking functions as a comparison tool and a performance index for conferences destination, both cities and countries. In this ranking, the efforts of conference destinations are rewarded and recognised regarding several factors such as the number of registered meetings, the number of participants and winning the original bid.
The ICCA ranking lists 1,000 cities worldwide with scheduled international conferences in 2022, that took place either live or hybrid. ICCA uses strict criteria for registering a conference in their database: there must be at least 50 participants on-site, a conference must be organised in a regularly recurring manner, and it must rotate between at least three countries.