Uncovering MEA's Top Meeting Destinations with Cvent's Annual List

Cvent’s Top Meeting Destinations ranking is out for the year, showcasing in-demand meeting destinations around the globe, including the Middle East and Africa. These cities are leading the MICE industry landscape and attracting most MICE planner enquiries.  

Ruling the charts again this is Dubai, United Arab Emirates at the top of the list. An absolute favourite among the leisure travellers, the destination has become a prominent choice meetings and events in the Middle East and Africa region. 

Dubai, a haven of hospitality with its wide array of hotels and resorts, offers an electrifying variety of events to suit every taste and occasion.  

“Driven by the city’s visionary leadership, Dubai continues to cement its status as a leading global business events hub, and we are delighted to once again be named the Top Meeting Destination in the Middle East and Africa. Engaging with meeting planners is at the heart of our strategy to capture business events, whether through technology platforms such as Cvent, meeting them in their home markets, or bringing them to Dubai to see and experience the city’s latest offerings. Working with our stakeholders and partners across the city’s business events ecosystem, we are committed to further elevating global awareness of the Dubai proposition, and attracting more meetings, conferences and incentives to our destination.”, said Karina Lance, Associate Vice President, Dubai Business Events. 

Following suit is Istanbul, Turkey, second on the list of Top Meeting Destinations. The largest city in Turkey, Istanbul offers centuries of history and culture. With 744 hotels, Istanbul is the meeting point of the world offering cross-roads of the East and the West. 

The largest of the seven emirates in the UAE, Abu Dhabi with its impressive conference venues is third on this list. 

The list ranks, Marrakech, Morocco, as the fourth destination, followed by Cape Town, South Africa in the fifth place. 

Here are the top 10 meeting destinations in MEA this year: 

1. Dubai, UAE 
2. Istanbul, Turkey
3. Abu Dhabi, UAE
4. Marrakech, Morocco
5. Cape Town, South Africa
6. Cairo, Egypt
7. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
8. Doha, Qatar
9. Johannesburg, South Africa
10. Casablanca, Morocco

To discover where your destination ranked, type its name into our Top Lists search page here.

Check the complete list to learn more about the Top Meeting Destinations in the Asia-Pacific region.