Madrid rose to thirteenth place in the table drawn up by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) which takes into account events organised around the world in 2009. This new ranking saw Madrid overtake such key cities as London, Sao Paulo and Tokyo. Last year, Madrid organised 22 congresses more than in 2008, meaning that the city rose nine positions in the table. The total number of congresses - 87 - was the highest in the city’s history. This record represents a 33.8% increase on the previous year, reflecting the effort that Madrid City Council - through the Madrid Convention Bureau Office - has made, along with 187 companies, organisations and member associations.

Over the past ten years, Madrid has, on average, occupied 16th place in the table, with almost 60 congresses. An average of 356 people attended the 87 congresses - 50.6% European and 48.2% from further afield. Madrid is the third city to climb the most in the table among the 900 cities included in the ICCA report (rising from 22 to 13), after Zurich (rising from 45 to 30) and Rio de Janeiro (which went up from 36 to 26). The number of congresses held in each city reflects its conference tourism strength, despite the current economic instability, and therefore is also an indicator of its relevance as a tourist destination, along with the figures for the total number of visitors annually.