Destinations

Cvent’s 2026 Top Meeting Destinations and Hotels

Miguel Neves photo
Miguel Neves

Photo Credit: London skyline with Thames River Unsplash / William Dmytrow

Skift Take

Planners sourcing on Cvent stuck to their guns on destination selection. On the hotel front, Cvent’s criteria shift now rewards hotels that bid the most, resulting in significant ranking shifts.

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Cvent unveiled its 2026 Top Meeting Destinations and Top Meeting Hotels this week at IMEX Frankfurt, based on over $20 billion in global sourcing activity through its platforms in 2025 — up from $18 billion the year prior.

Cvent's lists rank destinations and hotels based on performance within Cvent's sourcing ecosystem. The data skews toward U.S.-headquartered corporate planners — historically Cvent's core sourcing clients — and properties that are invested in Cvent's sourcing platform.

Rewarding Bids

Cvent added a new "bid rate" to its hotel evaluation criteria. The "bid rate" is the percentage of total requests for proposals (RFPs) received that a hotel responds to. The metric joins existing criteria including total RFPs, awarded room nights, market share and response rate.

Cvent hasn’t disclosed the weight of each criteria, including the new bid rate. However, Cvent Vice President International Graham Pope shared with Skift Meetings that new criteria was introduced to encourage properties to increase the percentage of requests they respond to.

Last year, Cvent introduced a response rate criteria to reward hotels that responded quickly, which were also rewarded with a "Top Responders Tag" visible to planners sourcing on the platform. At the same time, Cvent introduced the AI-powered Smart Custom Proposal tool, an upsell that automates proposal creation.

North America

Orlando claimed the #1 destination spot for the 11th consecutive year. Las Vegas held at #2, and Nashville rose to #3 — fitting since Cvent will host its flagship conference, Cvent CONNECT, in Nashville this July. New York surged four spots to #8, returning to the Top 10. Austin climbed two places to #9. Phoenix and Denver dropped out of the top 10.

  1. Orlando (–)
  2. Las Vegas (–)
  3. Nashville (+1)
  4. Chicago (-1)
  5. Dallas (+1)
  6. Atlanta (-1)
  7. San Diego (–)
  8. New York (+4)
  9. Austin (+2)
  10. Washington, D.C. (-2)

As for hotels, JW Marriott Austin rose four spots to #1, Gaylord Rockies hit #2 and The Venetian Resorts came in at #3. The Gaylord brand had three properties in the Top 10. Meanwhile, three Las Vegas and two Austin properties are among the ten highest ranked hotels. Nashville, which dominated last year's North American hotel list with four properties in the top four, fell to a single Top 10 entry this year.

Cvent published two new specialty lists for the region. The lists are the Top Meeting Venues list of non-hotel properties and the Top Meeting Vendors list focused on production companies and transportation providers. The latter draws from the Cvent Vendor Marketplace, which the company expanded after its 2024 acquisition of Reposite.

Europe

For a fourth consecutive year, London retained #1, with Barcelona and Madrid behind. Lisbon climbed to #4 and Paris rose to #5. Munich climbed to #9 and Vienna surged to #10. Prague and Dublin, which debuted in 2025, are no longer in the European Top 10.

  1. London (–)
  2. Barcelona (–)
  3. Madrid (–)
  4. Lisbon (+1)
  5. Paris (+1)
  6. Amsterdam (-2)
  7. Berlin (–)
  8. Rome (–)
  9. Munich (+2)
  10. Vienna (+3)

The Meliá Avenida América in Madrid tops the European hotel rankings, followed by the Hilton London Metropole in second and the W Barcelona in third. The top 10 features three Madrid, three Lisbon, two Barcelona, one London, and one Rome property.

The UK gets its own venue list, curated from Venue Directory data, a list dominated by regional venues rather than London properties.

Asia Pacific

Singapore ranked #1 in Asia Pacific for the eighth time since 2016, with Bangkok and Sydney in the top three. The top 10 remain largely the same, with Seoul rising to #7 and Bali dropping.

  1. Singapore (–)
  2. Bangkok (–)
  3. Sydney (–)
  4. Tokyo (–)
  5. Melbourne (–)
  6. Kuala Lumpur (–)
  7. Seoul (+1)
  8. Bali, Indonesia (-1)
  9. Shanghai, China (–)
  10. Beijing, China (–)

For hotels, Hilton occupies the top three spots and half of the top 10, with Hilton Singapore Orchard at #1, Hilton Regency Sydney at #2, and Hilton Sydney at #3.

Latin America & Caribbean

In its second year as a standalone region, Cancún/Riviera Maya held #1 and San Juan #2. Nassau rose three spots to #3, and Aruba climbed two places to #7.

Top 10 Meeting Destinations in Latin America & Caribbean

  1. Cancún/Riviera Maya, Mexico (–)
  2. San Juan, Puerto Rico (–)
  3. Nassau, Bahamas (+3)
  4. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (-1)
  5. Playa del Carmen, Mexico (-1)
  6. Punta Cana & Miches, Dominican Republic (-1)
  7. Aruba (+2)
  8. Guanacaste, Costa Rica (-1)
  9. Grand Cayman (-1)
  10. Punta Mita, Mexico (–)

The Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique took #1 among hotels, the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar (Nassau) #2, and the InterContinental Presidente Mexico City #3. Last year's #1, the JW Marriott Hotel Mexico City Polanco, is not in this year's Top 10.

Middle East & Africa

In 2025, Dubai was #1 in Middle East sourcing activity, Istanbul #2, and Abu Dhabi #3. Marrakech climbed to #4, Riyadh to #5, and Doha to #6. Cairo jumped to #8, and Casablanca entered the Top 10 at #10.

Top 10 Meeting Destinations in the Middle East & Africa

  1. Dubai (–)
  2. Istanbul (–)
  3. Abu Dhabi (–)
  4. Marrakech (+1)
  5. Riyadh (+1)
  6. Doha (+1)
  7. Cape Town (-3)
  8. Cairo (+5)
  9. Kuwait City (–)
  10. Casablanca

Dubai dominated the hotel list with six properties in the top seven, and Istanbul adding the remaining four. For a second consecutive year, JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai held #1, with Conrad Dubai #2 and Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights #3.

You can find the full rankings here.