Portugal is the 7th preferred destination in the world for congresses; Lisbon the second most requested city – Turismo & Lazer
Portugal rose to 7th position in the world ranking of the most host and organizers of congresses and countries, after having climbed three positions last year compared to 2019, reveals the latest report by the International Association of Congresses and Incentives (ICCA) , in English).
Looking only at Europe, Portugal rose one place, appearing as the sixth most sought after destination for this type of event, according to data from the report released this Thursday by Turismo de Portugal.
By cities, Lisbon remained second in both rankings, while the country’s place rose to 14th in Europe and 16th in the world. Given that the years 2020 and 2021 were atypical for the segments of the tourism sector” and the MICE industry, regarding the organization of meetings, conventions and exhibitions, “was no exception”, ICCA developed the Destination Performance Index which, explains Tourism de Portugal, aims to “recognise and reward the effort of designated destinations” with regard to “winning the original bid, COVID policies, adaptability and technological resources to convert on-site events into virtual/hybrid events”.
According to Turismo de Portugal, in total, since 2016, the Program for Capturing Corporate Events and International Congresses has attracted 347 new congresses to Portugal, and in 2020 and 2021, “despite the context experienced”, it attracted 30.
For this year, “with the recent framework of support for attracting events/corporate events within the scope of the Portugal Events Programme, in 2022, 73 international/national congresses across the country have already been captured”, the organization adds in a model of all the reported country.