Record year for Bologna in 2025 ICCA Ranking: top 30 in Europe with 47 international congresses

Excellent results for Bologna in the new 2025 ICCA Ranking, presented today in Frankfurt during IMEX. The report, which monitors the trend of international association congresses worldwide, confirms Bologna as a leading destination for international MICE.

Bologna as a top international destination

The city consolidates its position in the European top 30, rising to 28th place. In the world rankings, it stands at 53rd place, tied with Washington and Abu Dhabi and ahead of destinations such as Melbourne, Valencia, Rotterdam, and Vancouver.

The 2025 figures mark a milestone for the destination: with 47 international events hosted, Bologna has reached its new historical record. This is the highest figure ever recorded by the city and an excellent result in Italy, surpassed only by Rome and Milan.

Within the report, Bologna is also cited as a significant international example of a destination where collaboration between the city and the university system allows congresses to generate a lasting legacy on the territory, contributing to the development of scientific and professional ecosystems.

National leadership and excellence

At the national level, the city is steadily confirmed in the top 3, after Rome and Milan, for the fourth consecutive year. In the ranking of countries, Italy ranks for the third year in a row as the second country in the world and first in Europe, with a strong lead over the next one, Germany.

These are significant results for Bologna and for the country as a whole: the ICCA report represents not only an indicator of the sector's performance but also an important showcase of international visibility.

Strategic assets for growth

The growth of recent years has been made possible thanks to the variety and versatility of the congress venues, the strategic geographical position and the collaboration between operators, institutions and the University, in addition to the significant intellectual capital that actively contributes to the promotion of the destination within international boards.

The work of the Bologna Convention Bureau team, which promotes the city as an event destination in synergy with local operators, contributes decisively to this result. During 2025, the unit managed approximately 300 event requests, confirming 52 appointments for future years and worked on 45 bids, winning 15 congresses and events.

“2025 is a particularly significant year for Bologna, which records its best result ever in terms of the number of associative congress events: a milestone that confirms a destination in constant growth and increasingly attractive,” says Daniele Ravaglia, President of Fondazione Bologna Welcome. “We are proud to see Bologna strengthen its competitiveness not only in leisure tourism but also in the business and MICE segment, where it remains steadily among the top 30 destinations in Europe and among the top 3 in Italy. These are events that generate concrete benefits for the entire destination, guaranteeing constant tourist flows and important impacts on the local economy. We continue to work in this direction, in close collaboration with institutions, to further strengthen the international positioning of our destination.”