After a few difficult years, the international convention sector is returning to health. 2005 should see a progressive return of the confidence of organisers whereas budgets for travel and large conventions had been reduced for three years. According to a survey made in October 2004 with one hundred congress organisers at the Imex trade fair in Berlin, 62% expected to see improvement in arrivals while one third foresaw “a significant increase” in the number of participants. Where is this flux of international congresses headed with their appetite for upscale infrastructures and hotels? More than ever, Europe affirms itself is the favourite destination of congress organisers. Last year, Barcelona rose to the head of the ranking of cities carried out by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), an organisation that unites all the sectors in the world of congresses. With a hundred or so major gatherings in its favour, it is rightly ousting Vienna, and also gaining on Singapore, Berlin, Hong Kong, Copenhagen and Paris. This first place rewards a city that made great efforts to develop infrastructures for congresses and accommodations since the 1992 Olympics. Listing only the major associative congresses, the Union of international associations, UIA, based in Brussels, places Europe’s capitals at the head of its ranking of host cities: Paris, Vienna, Geneva, Brussels and London. In a second grouping, only Singapore slips in among Europe’s other major cities such as Barcelona, Copenhagen, Rome, Berlin, and ahead of New York.While 2005 does not yet look to be an outstanding year, 2006 presents itself under favourable auspices. “We are fairly optimistic,” confides Sylvie Pouliquen of the Concorde Lafayette. We have several major congresses that have been confirmed with several hundred rooms booked for three days, and even an entire week. Natalie de Chalus, meanwhile, posts “a growing number...