Meetings Industry is one of three segments of the event industry, including the organisation of business meetings, with dedicated market participants, goals and objectives, standards, development priorities and communication tools. The meeting in this context means a business event in case of which a certain number of people gather together to discuss or carry out certain activities.

The International Congress and Convention Association ICCA has determined that the congress market is composed of40 million events, 2 billion participants and annual industry revenues of more than €800 billion. According to the ICCA, around 19,000 different events are held around the world by 7,000 international specialist associations on a regular basis. The list of the top five world leaders, where business events are held, remains unchanged: the United States, Germany, UK, France, Spain.

The share of Russia in the world market of international congress events, according to official estimates, is less than 1%. According to the ICCA, Russia ranks 22nd in the European ranking of countries by events held. The first place is occupied by Germany. The total number of congress events held annually in Russia is 12,000 — 13,000.

According to VNITs R&C, Moscow hosts more than 5,000 events annually, St. Petersburg hosts 2,000-3,000 large business events including congresses, conferences, forums, summits. In 2017, VNITs R&C prepared a new project reflecting the level of congress and exhibition potential of the capitals of the SCO member states and the CIS. The international rating covers 15 cities, including the capitals of existing members of international organisations, as well as two countries — India and Pakistan, which will become the SCO official members in the near future.

According to the survey data, the following capitals were included in the top 5 international rating: Beijing, Moscow, Kiev, New Delhi, and Astana.