TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has been ranked the 4th most popular convention destination in Asia and the 26th in the world by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) in its 2019 Statistics Report released Tuesday (May 12).

According to the ICCA's latest annual statistics, Taiwan hosted a total of 163 international congresses in 2019, ranking fourth in Asia and tying the best ranking the island nation has ever received. The three Asian countries in front of Taiwan were China, Japan, and South Korea.

Meanwhile, 13 Taiwanese cities have met the ICCA standard for "international-scale" meeting destinations, with Taipei coming in 5th among all Asian cities, the best performance seen by any city in the country. Last year, the Taiwanese capital was the host of 101 meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE), according to the report.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said the country's improved performance attracting international conventions could be largely credited to the MICE promotional program (MEET TAIWAN) launched by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). TAITRA said the program's objectives are to enhance the quality and efficiency of Taiwanese services while strengthening national brands, reported Liberty Times.

According to ICCA, its 2019 statistics reflect 13,254 association meetings, which rotated between at least three countries with proven attendance of at least 50 participants. The full ICCA's 2019 report is currently only available to the organization's member countries, but an abstract will be released to the public in June.

original article: taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/…