According to research conducted by Pacific World, a Hong Kong-based event management company, Spain, particularly Barcelona and Madrid, topped the list as the most demanded destination in 2017 for event organizers, with 20 percent looking at those markets for their events. Elsewhere in Spain, the coastal city of Malaga and Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, also generated high interest among planners, the company reported. The United Kingdom and France trailed Spain as the second and third most requested countries in the study.
Researchers said that, in the Asia Pacific region, China led as the most popular destination and was second to Spain as the most demanded country worldwide. Spain and China were followed by Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore and as the top five destinations of 2017.
According to data, feedback, and insight Pacific World has collected over the past several months, Spain will continue to be the top destination in 2018 in Europe, company officials said, followed by Greece and France. In addition, U.S.-based planners are seeing a significant 44 percent increase in requests for events in Europe in comparison to last year. China will be the most demanded destination in Asia Pacific Region, with Thailand and Hong Kong following as the third and fourth countries on the list. Peru is emerging as new destination and shows a significant growth in popularity. It receives 7 percent of requests globally and is expected to see continued growth in 2018 as demand increases.
Breaking the data down into large and small events, Pacific World said that the most popular 2018 destinations for events with over 1,000 attendees will include Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and the United Kingdom. Greece leads the list of top destinations with 250-500 attendees, followed by Spain, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Indonesia and Indochina.
