BARCELONA.- Leader in Destination of Tourism of Meetings in ranking ICCA2017.

We have the new ranking published by ICCA confirming the good health of Spain as a world destination in meetings with Barcelona and Madrid in the international top ten.

Precisely Barcelona has positioned itself in the first position to overtake Paris and Vienna that were his predecessors the previous year.

In the ranking by cities, Barcelona has hosted 195 events, representing 7.7% more than the previous year that have allowed it to overcome Paris and Vienna, with 190 each, Berlin (185), London (177), Singapore (160) and Madrid (153) which holds the seventh position as in the previous year, but with an increase of 6.3% in events.

As for assistants by city, Barcelona is also an international leader with 149,000 delegates assistant in the global of its meetings, which represents 49.8% more than in 2016. It is followed by Vienna (114,000), Paris (112,000) and Madrid (110,000).

The ICCA has counted a total of 12,558 congresses of international associations around the world that, in turn, has set a new historical record of professional events. This continuous growth is not a novelty, since it has been the tendency of these last  years.

If the data of the classification by countries are observed, the United States is the one that receives more events in its territory (941), followed by Germany, European leader, with 682 and the United Kingdom (592). Spain is in the fourth position, with 564 meetings, which represents 5.8% more events than the previous year, and that has allowed it to be ahead of France (506), Japan (414) or China (376). .By participants, the 2017 ICCA Ranking also reflects the leadership of the United States with 424,000 delegates, followed by Spain which has had a total of 328,000 participants in the global of its meetings and that have allowed it to climb three positions in the detail of this annual study.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to increase public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society, and it has been steadily gaining momentum ever since. In 2017, International Museum Day garnered record-breaking participation with more than 36,000 museums hosting events in some 156 countries.

ICOM’s commitment to culture and knowledge sharing is reinforced by its 30 International Committees, which are dedicated to a wide range of museum specialities and conduct advanced research in their respective fields for the benefit of the museum community.

ICOM’s commitment to culture and knowledge sharing is reinforced by its 30 International Committees, which are dedicated to a wide range of museum specialities and conduct advanced research in their respective fields for the benefit of the museum community. The organisation’s International and National Committees, Regional Alliances and Affiliated Organisations hold conferences and symposiums worldwide that focus on pre-defined themes with a view to fostering exchange among museum professionals of all nationalities.

The theme chosen for 2018 is “Hyperconnected museums: New approaches, new publics“.

The objective of International Museum Day is to raise awareness of the fact that, “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.” Organised on and around 18 May each year, the events and activities planned to celebrate International Museum Day can last a day, a weekend or a whole week.

Hyperconnectivity is a term invented in 2001 to design the multiple means of communication we have today, such as face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging, telephone or the Internet. This global network of connections becomes each day more complex, diverse and integrated. In the hyperconnected world of today, museums join the trend. This is the reason why the International Council of Museums (ICOM) has chosen the theme “Hyperconnected museums: New approaches, new publics” for the International Museum Day 2018.

However, not all these new connections are due to technology. As museums strive to maintain their relevance in society, they shift their attention to the local community and the diverse groups that make it up. As a result, these past years we have witnessed the birth of countless common projects organised by museums with the collaboration of minorities, indigenous peoples and local institutions. To engage these new publics and strengthen their connections with them, museums must find new ways of interpreting and presenting their collections.