Vienna is once again the world's leading congress city according to the international industry organisation Union of International Associations (UIA). In the organisation's congress ranking for 2025, the Austrian capital is ranked first with 345 international meetings, ahead of Brussels and Seoul.
This is the first time since 2006 that Vienna has topped the UIA ranking. In 2025, the city accounted for 6.2 percent of all congresses organised in the 100 cities included in the survey, and has also placed among the top five every year for the past 25 years.
Even in the International Congress and Convention Association's (ICCA) rankings, Vienna continues to be among the world elite. The city ranks fourth globally with 159 international congresses, behind Lisbon, Paris, and Barcelona. In the field of medical science, Vienna is ranked as the world's leading congress destination.
– The top spot in the UIA ranking shows that Vienna continues to be an internationally competitive meeting destination. Over six per cent of all registered congresses are held in Vienna, a result of the close cooperation between the city's congress venues, hotels, organisers and other players in the tourism industry, says Norbert Kettner, CEO of WienTourismus.
Record year for the meetings industry
2025 simultaneously became the strongest year to date for Vienna's congress and convention industry. A total of 7,196 congresses and corporate events were held during the year, an increase of nine percent compared to the previous record year of 2024.
The events attracted close to 795,000 participants and generated over 2.5 million hotel nights – the first time the meetings industry surpassed two million overnight stays in a single year.
The economic impact is estimated at €1.7 billion in value added. According to WienTourismus, the convention industry also contributed around €348 million in tax revenue and the equivalent of 19,300 full-time jobs in Austria.
