They included highly- successful events ranging from hosting the MTV Europe Awards to the 10-day World Firefighter Games.

Last night, Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley said he had no doubt the venue’s arrival was behind the surge up the league tables.

He said: “These rankings are a huge boost for our reputation as a great place to do business and I thank everyone who has worked tirelessly to catapult the city back into Europe’s premier league.

“We knew a world-class conference centre was vital to our future prosperity, and with the cultural and retail offer to match, Liverpool’s global appeal to businesses and tourists will continue to grow and grow.”

The council, which owns and operates the venue through a subsidiary company, now hopes the city will build on its success and be among the world’s top 50 hosts in the league table by 2012.

This year’s conference programme has included key meetings from the Royal College of General Practitioners, the TUC and the NHS Confederation.

Pam Wilsher, acting director of tourism for The Mersey Partnership, which operates Liverpool’s Convention Bureau, said: “Business tourism plays a major role in the region’s visitor economy, and new facilities at the arena and convention centre have transformed our conference offer.

“Rising 44 places in the last year shows what an attractive and competitive prospect Liverpool is for international conference buyers and event organisers.”

Paris and Vienna were joint first in the world rankings.