The Best Cities for International Consumer & Trade Fairs 2023

The Index analyses and compares the top 50 global cities from multiple perspectives; capacity for large industry events and consumer fairs, accommodation, international connectivity and visitor experience.

At Holidu, we are constantly studying travel trends and what motivates our customers so we can meet their wants and needs. Every year the event industry accounts for more than 28% of travel economic output worldwide. We decided to undertake this study to measure using available data the strength of the cities with the highest capacity and ability to run all types of events.

To begin, out of 1000 cities we selected a shortlist of prominent, international cities based on their reputation and historic prominence for hosting tier one events like world fairs, sporting events and trade conferences as well as those who have the venues and accommodation infrastructure for the safe catering of large numbers of visitors.

Next, we considered the principles and history of events hosted in each city. Specifically, we studied accommodation, transportation connectivity and most importantly all the relevant events hosted in the past by the city.

Finally, we studied safety as well as the quality of the cities when it comes to tending to visitors, from the accommodation to its restaurants to understand not only the availability of them but how they care for their visitors experience.

The final result is an index composed of all past events and relevant factors ranking cities worldwide based on their suitability and attractiveness for successful events.

“The event industry was heavily disrupted by the COVID pandemic, yet it has shown resilience as events are showing attendance above pre-pandemic worldwide”, said Sarah Siddle, Senior PR Manager at Holidu. “Events are a way industries and topics gather strength and cities cement a position among them.”

Instructions for journalists

The table below reveals the results. All scores range from 50 to 100, with 100 being the best possible score. You can filter each factor from highest to lowest and vice versa by clicking on the icon above each column. For a full explanation of how each factor was calculated, please see the methodology at the bottom of the page.

Methodology

The index for The Event City Index analyses and compares 50 global cities from multiple perspectives; capacity for large industry events and fairs, accomodation, international connectivity and visitor experience.

The cities in the index were selected by reviewing the most significant events running worldwide, and selecting host cities with a population with at least 100,000.

Data for this study was primarily collected manually from event and exhibition venue websites; and complemented with data on tourist activities from traveller listings.

Scoring
Scored factors are made up of one or more indicators that were scored and averaged. The following equation was used for scoring:

z-Score = x – mean(X)Standard deviation(X)in short x – μσ

For columns where a low value is better, the score is inverted such that a high score is always better:

z-Scoreinverted = -1*x – mean(X)Standard deviation(X) in short -1 *x – μσ

Data is normalized to a [50-100] scale, with 100 being the best score. The higher the score, the better the city ranks for that factor in comparison to the other cities in the index. The formula used is min-max normalization:

score = (100-50) *x – min(X)max(X) – min(X)+50

The final score was determined by calculating the sum of the weighted average score of all of the indicators. Below you can find a detailed description of each factor within the study, and the sources used.

Detailed factor notes

Major Trade & Consumer Shows

The size of International Trade Fairs is a pivotal benchmark in assessing a city’s capacity and reputation in hosting major events.

A comprehensive list of industry event segments was curated, spanning 68 industries. Leading events within these industries were identified, with attendance figures extracted from official sources or credible news reports. Adjustments were made for events disrupted between 2020-2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, utilizing the 2019 attendance data in such cases. Industries were streamlined into five prominent clusters: Lifestyle, Consumer, Culture, Commerce, and Infrastructure. In order to balance overall event engagement with the cities capacity for hosting large-scale events, the score for each cluster was derived from the total attendee figures and the magnitude of the city’s largest event within that cluster. The final score was constructed from the average of the cluster scores.

Sources: press releases from event organizers, UFI, Exhibition Services & Contractors Association, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Japan External Trade Organization, HK Trade Development Council, EventsEye, 10times

Largest Exhibition Spaces

While multimedia facilities, outdoor exhibition space and many other speciality qualities of exhibition spaces are significant to specific industries, the total size of indoor exhibition space provides a fair generic indicator of a cities maximum capacity for large-scale events. Large single-hall spaces further provide opportunities for events in all industries.

Primary exhibition centers in each city were identified. Using venue-specific documentation, two key metrics were extracted: the total indoor exhibition space and the size of the largest continuous conference area. Each city’s score is derived from a weighted average of these two indicators.

Sources: venue specification documents from venue managers, UFI, Cvent,

Access to Accommodation

As international events tend to be larger and have greater international recognition than local events, event cities must ensure capacity to accommodate international attendees.

For each city, data regarding the total number of rooms available in non-resort hotels within city boundaries was collated from hotel directories. These figures were subsequently normalized to derive a uniform score for each city.

Sources: Cvent, press releases from local hospitality associations

Airport International Connectivity

Strong international flight connections allow convenient access by international visitors without multiple stop-overs. Although some cities may lack strong inter-continental connections, they may be connected to cities that do; so comparing airport connectivity must take into account connections with hub airports.

For each city, connections from its airports to other cities were used to calculate the Direct Connection Score with a higher score given to intern-continental connections and a lower score given to domestic and regional flights. A small portion of the Direct Connection Score of each destination was then added to the origin city to account for connections with hub airports, giving a total Direct and Indirect Connection Score.

Sources: flightconnections.com

Entry Requirements

Convenient entry to the event host country allows international travellers to focus their pre-attendance planning on the purpose of the trip rather than visa requirements. For each country, the requirements to enter the country for the purpose of attending an industry show were established for international visitors.

We took into account the availability of:

Free movement, visa waivers, visa-free travel or visa-on-arrival with no requirements for producing supporting documentation;
Visa-on-arrival and visa-free entry with some requirements for producing supporting documentation at the border;
Visa-on-arrival and visa-free entry with pre-arrival travel authorisation required;
eVisas with no requirement for in-person visits to consulates or similar agents
Visa applications with requirements for in-person visits and/or interviews
Countries with limited or no diplomatic relationships where entry is impossible or only possible in exceptional situations
The final score for each event host was constructed by averaging the scores of each passport requirement to that country, weighted by the GDP of that country, i.e. the size of that market.

Sources: official border control websites of each country

Visitor Perception of Safety

For international attendees, a perception of safety allows visitors to enjoy city experiences outside of convention spaces. The visitor safety score is constructed as follows:

Perception Index: Derived from traveller-oriented web surveys, offering insights into personal experiences and public sentiment. The scores are averaged across a five-year span, with a preferential weighting for recent data.
Crime Statistics Index: Based on the latest available data from UN reports on homicide and gun crime rates. These metrics offer an objective viewpoint, but receive a lower weight than the Perception Index, recognizing the potential discrepancy with public sentiment.

The overall Visitor Safety score for each city is established by a weighted average of the normalized scores from these two indexes, ensuring a balance of both subjective and objective data.

Sources: Numbeo, UN homicide and gun crime statistics.

Leisure Options

Visiting events provides travellers with the opportunity to experience the city outside of convention spaces. We consider typical city vacation attractions in four categories: restaurants, wellness activities, nightlife and cultural attractions.

For each of the categories, the total number of activities advertised on travel listings as well as on a per-capita basis are considered. For restaurants, the availability of diverse culinary experiences at multiple price points, as well as the presence of internationally recognized restaurants provide a further boost; similarly, for nightlife, internationally recognised nightclubs and venues provide a boost.