GLOBAL LEADERS

Edinburgh has rocketed up the business tourism world league table after attracting a clutch of major events to the capital.

The latest rankings compiled by a leading industry body show the capital has risen eight places to 27 in the global city rankings for hosting major conferences and events.

The rise came after Edinburgh hosted 76 major conferences and meetings in 2016, including events such as Autism-europe Congress and the Congress of the European Society of Agronomy, which delivered an estimated £35 million in economic benefit for the city.

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) figures, due to be officially published next month, show Paris has regained the top global ranking.

London is fifth in the latest rankings with Glasgow coming in at 50, Manchester 94 and Oxford 100. Edinburgh has also moved up the European rankings from 20 last year to 18.

The new rankings come just days after separate figures 1 ................................................... Paris 2 . .......................................... Vienna 3 .................................... Barcelona 4 ................................................ Berlin 5 .......................................... London 27 ............................ Edinburgh 50 ................................. Glasgow 94 .......................... Manchester 100 ..................................... Oxford The world’s city rankings for international association meetings are compiled by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). showed business tourism in Edinburgh has soared since the start of 2017, with five new event bid wins equating to 3,400 delegates, contributing £7m to the local economy.

Elaine Miller, ambassador and association bid manager at Convention Edinburgh, which is the business tourism division of Marketing Edinburgh, said the ICCA figures were a major boost for the city.

“To have Edinburgh independently recognised as one