More international conferences held in Hungary

In the first half of 2010, Hungary hosted 160 international conferences that met the criteria of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). The number of participants at these events was over 43,000.

A report by the Convention Bureau of the Hungarian National Tourist Office reveals that the number of registered guests did not only surpass the figure of 2009 (by 76%) but also the pre-crisis year of 2008 (by 18.8%). Almost 85% of the participants of these international conferences were foreigners, mainly German, British and French nationals. On average, an event attracted guests from 12 different countries and lasted 4.3 days, up on the 2009 figure of 3.4 days.

Not surprisingly, most of these conferences (almost 80 %) took place in Budapest, followed by Pécs – one of Europe’s cultural capitals this year – with 6.3% and Sopron on the Austrian border with 3.1%. Regarding the venues, close to 85% of the events were held in hotels, 7.5% in congress centers and 4.4% at universities. Similarly to 2009, the most popular theme was medicine, followed by topics of economic and business nature.