Business Events Africa August 2020

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Voice of the Business Events Industry in Africa

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Vol 40 No 8 August 2020

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businesseventsafrica.com Business Events Africa has been the voice of the business events industry in southern Africa for the past 39 years. This trusted source of information keeps readers up-to-date with the most relevant news, trends, interviews, destination features, venue showcases and local association news and resources. Business Events Africa is also known for having the most comprehensive directory of venues, service providers, speakers and conference organisers in Africa.

Head Office: Suite 1, Fields Shopping Centre, Old Main Road, Kloof 3610 PO Box 414, Kloof 3640, South Africa Tel: +27 31 764 6977 | Fax: 086 762 1867 Email: contact@contactpub.co.za

Voice of the Business Events Industry in Africa

KEEPING YOU IN THE KNOW | CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH PEOPLE

Business Events Africa: Serving the business events industry for 40 years

CONTENTS Voice of the Business Events Industry in Africa

The

VOL 40 NO 8 AUGUST 2020

The new world

www.businesseventsafrica.com

Vol 40 No 8 August 2020

newworld

The authority on meetings, exhibitions, special events and incentives management

As the world is constantly changing, we are all finding our way in the new world during a pandemic. The business events sector has had to adapt to this new world. In this edition we take a look at what the new world means to hotels, conference venues and organisers.

The special feature looks at conferencing, specifically with the focus on technology and the food & beverage sector.

Published by the proprietor Contact Publications (Pty) Ltd (Reg No. 1981/011920/07)

HEAD OFFICE POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 414, Kloof 3640, South Africa TEL: +27 31 764 6977 FAX: 086 762 1867 MANAGING DIRECTOR: Malcolm King malcolm@contactpub.co.za EDITOR: Irene Costa gomesi@iafrica.com PRODUCTION AND DESIGN EDITOR: Hayley Mendelow hayley@contactpub.co.za

Features

DESIGN TRENDS

EDITOR’S COMMENT

AAXO NEWS

20 Fjord Trends 2020: Realigning the fundamentals in South Africa.

2 We are stronger together.

22 Adapting in a new VUCA world.

SPECIAL FEATURE THE NEW WORLD

EXSA NEWS

4 Durban ICC. 5 Century City Conference Centre.

6 Sun City.

7 Spier.

8 Flock Eventing Platform.

8 Chat’r Xperience.

23 Connecting in the age of Covid-19.

SAACI NEWS 24 Safe events: we’ve proved we can do it!

SITE NEWS EVENT GREENING FORUM NEWS

9 The Conference Company.

26 The hierarchy of waste.

10 Conference Consultancy South Africa.

MARKET NEWS

11 Event Wizards.

11 Phambili African Events.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 12 UFI Global Barometer shows global impact of Covid-19.

PERSONALITY PROFILE 15 Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo: “Let this be a time to dream of the new normal”.

GUIDELINES FOR REOPENING THE SECTOR 18 Reigniting the events industry.

jackie@contactpub.co.za SALES REPRESENTATIVES: Irene Costa | +27 (0)82 558 7387 gomesi@iafrica.com PUBLICATION DETAILS: Volume 40 No 8 Business Events Africa has 12 issues a year and is published monthly, with the Yearbook in June.

25 Site Africa hosts virtual summit.

9 Gallagher Convention Centre.

10 Fizz Marketing.

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Jackie Goosen

publishers of Business Events Africa, is a member of:

27 Valor Hospitality partners to assume management at Fancourt.

REGULARS 27 Index of advertisers.

Learning | Growth | collaboration

Official media partner

28 D irectory and associations of interest.

LAST WORD 30 What the travel trends of yesterday mean for the future of travel.

Official Journal of the Southern Africa Chapter of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence

Official journal of the Exhibition & Event Association of Southern Africa

SITE AFRICA WHITE PAPER A strategic vision for business event travel and tourism: Covid-19 protocols and the reopening of borders and skies in Africa.

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EDITOR’S COMMENT

We are stronger together

I

think that during this time we have all gone through a range of emotions and at times feel like we are on a loop. Can it just stop?

The fact is the world we used to live in has changed. Besides the fact we wear masks and sanitisers rule our lives, the one thing I have found solace in is our humanity and the need for face-to-face interaction.

We have to continue and find a new way in this new world we find ourselves living in.

The business events sector was one of the first sectors impacted by Covid-19 and from what we have been told it appears to be one of the last sectors to open. Why? If anything our sector has done the hard work through collaboration with the various trade associations and key partners to find a way forward.

In this issue, Mike Lord, interim chair of Event Safety Council and founding member of SA Event Council, takes us through some of the elements of reopening our sector.

He has been instrumental in the creation of the Reopening Guidelines for our sector.

Furthermore, there have been a number of amazing campaigns to highlight our plight, the latest being the #LightSAred campaign. On 5 August the events industry raised awareness

of our sectors plight. In support, the industry and its supporters were asked to light buildings in red and share on the various social media platforms.

In Cape Town these included Table Mountain, the Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town City Hall, Cape Town Castle, the Civic Centre, and The Cape Wheel and the Clock Tower at the V&A Waterfront.

In Johannesburg, the spots lit up were the FNB Stadium, Northcliff Water Tower, Ticketpro Dome, Montecasino and Kyalami.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the Durban City Hall, Moses Mabhida Stadium, the Old Prison wall at the ICC, the Durban Jewish Club and Durban libraries were lit up.

These were just a few – it was amazing to see the support. The campaign has been a success and the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko KubayiNgubane has taken note, and has requested a meeting with the key players involved to discuss a way forward.

As I enter another month of lockdown I have learnt patience, resilience and the most sobering of all the basics of humanity – kindness goes a long way.

We are all in the same boat in the business events sector – our survival more than ever before relies on our

Credit: Hein Liebetrau

In an ever changing world we find ourselves, I am craving some stability.

relationships and collaboration with the right partners to see us through.

Yes, we are living in a very different world but the fundamentals remain, we are still human and our need for human contact, in whichever form, will remain.

Our sector is resilient and we have purpose that makes a difference.

Our sector’s impact is vast.

Beyond the direct and indirect economic benefits business events brings to a destination, more importantly it also plays a critical role in connecting people and bolstering crucial segments of our national economy.

The business events sector and its amazing people have not given up. We are still here and ready to reopen!

Irene

Email: gomesi@iafrica.com

NEWS

Presents insights into

The new world

As the world is constantly changing, we are all finding our way in The New World. The business events sector has had to adapt to this new world. In this edition we take a look at what the new world means to hotels, conference venues and organisers. The special feature will look at conferencing specifically with the focus on technology and the food & beverage sector. www.businesseventsafrica.com

Business Events Africa August 2020 3

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Convention centres

TECHNOLOGY

Durban ICC

Lindiwe Rakharebe, chief executive officer, Durban ICC

The Durban ICC is making huge strides as a leading brand and is ready to embrace what we will come to know as ‘the new normal’ post Covid-19. As Africa’s leading Convention Centre, they have always had a strong focus on the future and are successfully repositioning their brand as Africa’s Smartest Convention Centre.

4 Business Events Africa August 2020

We asked Durban ICC to give us some insight, as to what this new world will look like, and what the venue is planning. The Centre is offering a range of innovative solutions such as Hybrid events, live-streaming, videoon-demand and remote presentation events. All of this is being done to connect event organisers with a greater audience, no matter where they are in the world. Virtual Conferencing is being met with huge excitement; and this is not surprising, considering how the benefits for Africa and the world are immeasurable. This platform provides far greater reach for the organisers’ content and the added convenience and cost saving of participating in conferences from the comfort and safety of one’s home. Virtual delegates, that would not normally have had access to events will be able to connect, learn and engage, which will create far reaching economic benefits, as Africa and the global economy seek to recover.

Durban ICC’s passion remains rooted in connecting people and being the place where the world meets Africa.

Hybrid events will not replace the human connection, but will enhance meetings and events, as an additional component.

Clients can look forward to experiencing the next level of events, incorporating an unparalleled blend of community networking, workshops, exhibitions and even online destination experiences.

The Durban ICC team are gearing up to welcome this new era of events.

As always the centre remains focused on delivering world class events, and plans are in place to ensure that delegates will be able to experience the highest global standards of safety protocols. Obviously the health and safety of our guests and delegates is our top priority. We have implemented all the WHO protocols for hosting meetings at the Durban ICC. We believe that this new era will see organisers making far more use of outdoor facilities, giving delegates access to fresh air, sunshine and Durban’s fantastic climate.

Sanitising stations, social distancing and temperature screening will become part of the industry’s standard offerings.

The virus has changed the landscape of the business events industry. Amidst the disruption, delegates will have access to more enhanced experiences, as the Durban ICC steps up to welcome both virtual and face to face delegates to the new world of business events.

www.businesseventsafrica.com

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Convention centres

TECHNOLOGY

Century City Conference Centre introduces Century City Virtual Conference Centre In response to the challenges posed by the current Covid-19 restrictions on large physical gatherings and international travel, Century City Conference Centre has launched a comprehensive and cutting-edge digital conferencing solution.

“This new solution will not be in competition with our existing facilities: there will always be a crucial place for face-to-face meetings, conferences, exhibitions and banquets. Rather than replacing our physical offering, this timely innovation is an additional service for our clients to select from as consumer needs evolve,” said Glyn Taylor, joint chief executive officer.

“We are constantly scanning the technology horizon for advances that offer more value to our clients,” said Gary Koetser, joint chief executive officer.

“The issues we are facing today because of the pandemic have only accelerated the need for digital solutions, which give event organisers the scope to include delegates or speakers literally from anywhere in the world.

“Our new virtual conferencing solution also offers a hybrid option

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with best-of-both-world features of a physical and a virtual event combined.”

The Century City Virtual Conference Centre is a turnkey solution consisting of two fully equipped, on-site video production studios and a digital platform, all expertly run by the Century City Virtual Conference Centre events team.

The onsite studios features: • The highest resolution LED screens available in the rental market today.

• A full lighting rig and sound system.

• 3D Green screen technology.

• High speed 1GB fibre lines for livestreaming quality audio and video.

• The services of a professional inhouse technical crew to set everything up and make sure it runs seamlessly.

“All of this impressive hardware is brought to life via an integrated digital platform that offers enhanced audience engagement.

“The solution is flexible enough to be booked for a few hours or for multiple days,” Mr Taylor said.

“The combination of enhanced audience engagement tools, branding opportunities for sponsors and exhibitors, networking functionalities and features and event analytics and reporting allows for better return on conference spend and measurement of event objectives.’’

Business Events Africa August 2020 5

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Resorts

TECHNOLOGY

Conferencing at Sun City goes virtual As Sun International welcomes guests back to its casinos and hotels, with strict social distancing protocols, the company has also made virtual conferencing available.

Sun City Convention Centre’s virtual conferencing takes your current virtual meetings a step further and is the ideal virtual venue to host company events, webinars, and conferences during this trying time.

The virtual conferencing offering will also help rebuild South Africa’s shattered economy, as the meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions and events industry attracts about one-million delegates a year at business events locally, supporting more than 250,000 jobs directly and indirectly in this subsector, according to the South African National Convention Bureau.

“Although virtual conferencing will not employ this many people, it will use hightech connectivity solutions, break down distance barriers and allow companies to create endless themes that enhance their business objectives,” said Brett Hoppé, general manager of Sun City.

Sun International’s virtual conferencing training or meeting platforms can accommodate small or big sessions of more than 500 delegates, with different links from each presenter or organiser.

6 Business Events Africa August 2020

Speakers are hosted in the Sun City Convention Centre Studio, which provides access to a hi-res LED wall, web presenter and AV equipment such as HD cameras, studio lighting, as well as on-screen effects such as branding, also possible. The streaming platforms, over 100Mbps of bandwidth a day, is set up according to the client’s specifications.

More than 500 remote attendees can access live conferences, meetings and presentations from their phones, computers, tablets or laptops. They participate with questions and comments via a link created for the meeting.

Sun City Convention Centre has made vast streaming platforms available for: • Virtual conferences and summits.

• Live and virtual hybrid events.

• Live streaming.

• Team buildings.

• Webinars and training events.

“We’ve also built this solution to be platform agnostic, so we can offer the streaming on platforms such as, Antenna, powered by AntFarm, Zoom, WebEx, Vimeo, and Facebook, among others,” Mr Hoppé said.

For companies worried about productivity, Sun City provides comprehensive analytics by device on demand or postevent. This includes participant viewing

Brett Hoppé, general manager of Sun City.

time, user registration information, as well as geographical region.

All conference sessions will be recorded and provided to the organiser after the event, allowing them to be posted to websites or the channel of your choice, expanding the audience if required.

“This service is provided with complete adherence to health and safety regulations during Covid-19. This includes contactless temperature monitoring using thermal screening cameras and daily completion of declaration forms for contact tracing,” Mr Hoppé said.

In addition, there are multiple sanitising stations around the studio area, all technical staff wear complete personal protective equipment, and the studio is disinfected before each event, Mr Hoppé concluded.

www.businesseventsafrica.com

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Hotel

TECHNOLOGY

Meet the future Delivering memorable conferencing in the Covid-19 era

By Joep Schoof, general manager of Spier

The Covid-19 pandemic means less travel, and restrictions in place at venues in terms of social distancing and numbers of attendees. With this in mind, our challenge was to devise a conferencing offering that can still offer opportunities for meaningful connection.

Launched in July after extensive planning, our virtual and hybrid conferencing offering does exactly that: it brings your teams or clients together in a way that feels natural and can beautifully showcase your product and facilitate business.

Meet at Spier without leaving your desk In developing our virtual and hybrid conferencing offering, we’ve drawn upon the extensive expertise of Aki Khan and David Classen from Eastern Acoustic www.businesseventsafrica.com

AV as well as MyVirtualEvent’s Zelda Coetzee, a seasoned event producer.

This team handles the technical nittygritty, including participant registration, ticketing, live streaming and the virtual participation platform (which includes a live Q&A, polls and breakout rooms).

The Spier conferencing team has come up with various creative and fun ways to bring the farm to delegates attending virtually. Delegates can enjoy real live wine & chocolate pairings presented by our winemaker (with the wine and chocolate delivered in advance), live music on the werf, comedy shows, pizza-making tutorials by chef PJ Vadas and even a virtual segway farm tour. The possibilities are endless!

The best of both worlds On the farm, we’ve invested in

high-speed internet and the latest generation audiovisual technology to ensure that organisers who wish to have a hybrid event – where some delegates attend virtually while others attend on the farm – can do so smoothly.

Our outdoor and large meeting spaces can easily facilitate social distancing. This, together with the extensive measures we’ve put in place throughout the property can give delegates peace of mind.

At our launch event, our conferencing team were able to experience this firsthand, with some of us attending in-person (with all the relevant social distancing measures in place), and others joining from home.

It was exciting for all of us to see this experience brought to life so vividly and effectively.

Business Events Africa August 2020 7

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Organisers

TECHNOLOGY Mike Lysko, chief executive officer and founder, Flock Eventing Platform

A few short months ago, I wrote about the ways in which technology would fundamentally alter the ways in which we orchestrate and attend events. Little did I (or anyone) realise just how quickly the survival of our industry would come to rely on elements like mobile technology, virtual meeting spaces, and live streams.

As the events industry adapts to a world in the throes of a global pandemic, industry players have developed innovative ways to create and participate in meetings, conferences, and events. And as network infrastructure and computing power increase, these innovative uses of technology are set to become de rigueur in the B2B events space.

As the world navigates the economic and social impacts of Covid-19, the industry will be shaped by the following three trends in particular: Hybrid events will become the norm. From extending the reach of your event to decreasing spend on venues, catering, and travel, the online sphere will become central to the events space. Whether live streams, mobile apps, or online gamification, every single event will include some form of online components to enhance the guest experience.

Virtual reality (VR) and 3D experiences will grow in popularity and sophistication. Future physical events will increasingly incorporate augmented 8 Business Events Africa August 2020

and virtual reality elements to engage and enthral attendees. Bulky headsets will be replaced with sleek, comfortable glasses for in-person experiences, and those attending events via their desktops will be able to enjoy an experience akin to Sim City – enabling them to attend events and concerts, shop at exhibitions, network with other attendees, and more – thanks to VR and 3D technology.

Mobile apps and concierge bots will furnish guests with a highlypersonalised event experience. From devising event schedules and facilitating networking opportunities, to tailoring event content to the individual’s preferences and requirements, mobile technology that incorporates the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or concierge bots will enable event organisers to effortlessly provide an event experience that’s unique to every single attendee.

As we grapple with a future full of uncertainty, one thing’s for sure: the event and conferencing space will be ripe with opportunity for innovation, and those that adapt to our ‘new normal’ will be the ones who thrive.

John Arvanitakis, founder and chief executive officer of Chat’r Xperience

2020 – the year a virus changed entire industries As the eventing industry in South Africa came grinding to a halt on the 26th March 2020, the question hung on all of our lips: how long is this going to last?

Now, more than four months later, we’ve discovered that we had greater strength and resilience than we

realised before, having forged on with business – not quite as usual – through any means possible and necessary.

A plethora of gamification, virtual meeting and webinar hosting platforms have mushroomed during the Covid-19 lockdown, such as Zoom, Meet, Teams, Vimeo, Crowdcast, and so many more.

Literally coming to the rescue during difficult times, these meeting software tools have even made it possible to host full-scale exhibitions – virtually, of course – for international audiences.

Although critical for now, these platforms can only remain as a temporary solution for the current state of affairs. Nothing can replace the power of a face-to-face meeting, or the feeling of being a part of an audience, engaging with a speaker on-stage. These are the personal elements that humankind thrives on, and will return to, in due course.

It begs the next question, how will technology continue to influence events going forward and what will the ‘new world’ conferencing look like?

It excites me to see the positive technological trends emerging from this nationwide crisis, and I believe that when we have faced down the Covid-19 virus and triumphed over it as a nation, and a global human race, our events, conferencing and trade shows will take on a whole new, three-dimensional dynamic... we call it ‘the hybrid event’.

At Chat’R, we’re excited to see this concept finally developing into a reality.

People will return to physical events, gravitating towards the natural predisposition to personal contact.

However, with the advances that we’ve made during this time, events, webinars and exhibitions will now be made available to attendees from across the globe. Delegates will be able to check into real-life events digitally, accessing knowledge that beforehand would have required the massive costs of travel and accommodation.

While we trudge through these trying times, I look forward to a new, exciting era of events – a global boom in networking and knowledgesharing. I have a deep sense of hope that in some respects, our current suffering will be compensated by a future bright with possibilities. www.businesseventsafrica.com

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Convention centres & Organisers

CULINARY Gallagher Convention Centre – ready to serve

The novel Covid-19 virus has had an unprecedented impact on the events industry. The effects of which will be felt on the business events industry for the foreseeable future.

At Gallagher Convention Centre, we pride ourselves on our flexibility and have, therefore embraced the inevitable changes that Covid-19 brings to the face of the industry. In one such an instance event catering as we know it will need to be reimagined to ensure the safety of all event attendees.

We carefully monitor the regulations as prescribed by the South African government and the best practices advised by the World Health Organisation. Our devoted Health and Safety department is up to date with all the requirements as gazetted by the South African government.

According to Executive Chef, Gordon Fraser, Gallagher Convention Centre Catering have redesigned the menus for our specially formulated conference packages to accommodate the best practices and requirements for individually wrapped items. Chef Gordon advises that this, unfortunately, means an increase in the packaging cost as well as an increase in the use of plastic and polystyrene that we previously avoided.

We have also changed our refreshment offerings to items that can easily be offered as individually wrapped items to avoid any possibility of cross-contamination. Our conference mints and water are provided to guests in individual portions.

Going forward, the buffet service will be done from our specially designed food service trollies. Food will be dished by chefs wearing the necessary safety equipment, and the food will be separated

with glass dividers to make the process as safe as possible. This will mean that choice options may need to be evaluated to avoid long queues for delegates. We encourage plated menu options during this time, and we have designed our menus to entice clients to make use of this option.

Hygiene is paramount on the Gallagher property, and as such, our kitchens have all the necessary certifications to support this. We employ a full-time food technologist on-site as well as a quality controller whose responsibility it is to ensure that food handling procedures and safety procedures are adhered to.

The chefs and quality controller also closely monitor food temperatures to further ensure the safety and quality of the dishes. The chefs preparing and handling the food are held to the highest standards in food safety, and the team will be making all meals while wearing the necessary personal protective equipment.

The property offers sixty automatic sanitiser dispensers as well as antibacterial soap to all guests and employees to ensure best hygiene practices.

“With the required changes to event catering, we will continuously need to learn and improve to best serve our clients,” says Chef Gordon.

Being a PCO in “The New World” Nina Freysen-Pretorius, chief executive officer of The Conference Company

Being a Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) in any country or environment has always required www.businesseventsafrica.com

resilience, patience, creativity, thick skin and having a positive outlook. Without these attributes perhaps another career option should be considered.

What has come as a surprise to me is that whilst we have facts and trends at our immediate disposal of other countries regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, we still seem rather dogmatically attached to the fact that we need to go back to how things were and what we knew to be normal. Well that is just not going to happen.

The world is a different place now, we need to look at the challenges faced and find the solutions available to us.

Considering the catastrophic impact Covid-19 has had on our healthcare system, loss of lives and not to mention the mental health impacts across all age groups and spectrums, there are some positives we can take from this.

For far too long we have been on a “hamster wheel” doing things the same old way without ever really changing our personal and meeting habits, to seriously address the disastrous impact on our planet that we have all contributed to. Yes, we have had some workshops, talk shops, and made small adjustments to how we do things to appease our conscience.

But this has not helped at all! The planet is a mess! Do we really need to travel that often without ever really “seeing” or visiting a destination and meeting its people? Buy another pair of shoes?

I think that for the moment virtual conferencing in South Africa is here to stay until at least Q2 or Q3 of 2021.

Therefore, the hybrid approach is what must be taken. Allowing for some key personal engagement or demonstrations, whilst allowing the maximisation of other participants and the sharing of Business Events Africa August 2020 9

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Organisers

knowledge in a more cohesive and environmentally appropriate manner.

PCO’s will need the appropriate conferencing software licenses, good planning and co-ordination skills for the programming requirements and virtual exhibition space, as well as the ability to work with a team remotely. Communication, albeit remotely will be key as always.

Pieter Swart, CMP, CMM, managing director of Conference Consultancy South Africa

For far too long, organisers were listening to those with different interests instead of observing the emerging signals, using our common sense and adapting to changing realities. Instead of asking the “why” questions, we kept on asking the “what” questions.

In a mature services industry, we need to know why we are doing things in particular ways and to explore whether those answers are still relevant. Are we adjusting fast enough to changing needs?

Have we adapted our value proposition?

By simply doing what our clients can do for themselves is just not going to cut it. Virtual meetings were never intended to replace in-person meetings. They were designed to supplement them. It is incumbent on the organiser to understand those strategies, to have the knowledge and the skills to apply them correctly to meet objectives and exceed expectations.

The reset button has been pressed.

Our future success depends entirely on our ability to adapt in response to changing needs of our clients, patrons and participants (people), our environment, technology, business and the economy.

Celeste Whitaker, founder of Fizz Marketing For 22 years our company planned in-person conferences for various clients and we have invested significant resources in modelling our services to meet client needs. These needs have evolved over the years in a linear process of incremental advancements. It was almost like blowing up a balloon: more and more of the same – just better, bigger, more efficiently and dynamically... and then one good morning, ”POP!”Everything as we knew it was gone. We should have seen this coming – the result of what happened was predictable and if we didn’t know that, we do now and we had better be prepared as it will happen again.

Our natural inclination is to rush in and pick up the pieces. To rebuild what we had. However, to do that will be foolish; it cannot be done and those who keep on searching for the balloon fragments will be wasting time on distractions and improbabilities. Those who depended on commissions to sustain their businesses are now without income.

Those who have not prepared for the shift from centralised (in one location) to decentralised meetings (meeting from wherever you are) were left wondering.

We call it the new world of eventing, but the reality is that professional event planners have been using technology as a vital weapon in their arsenal for many years. That in no way detracts from the fact that events, conferences, meetings and the like have been forced to change, but it does give us a sense of comfort that this industry is ready to adapt to a modified way of working with barely a break in their stride.

Since lockdown Fizz Marketing have managed 15 virtual events, varying from

10 Business Events Africa August 2020

smaller, single track events, to those with up to 40 simultaneous speakers, hundreds of attendees and up to 10 concurrent tracks. So, it’s safe to say that the lessons we have learned have been diverse, and although not every learning can be applied to every event, there are definite themes which we can share.

Up until now technology has mainly been used for registration, marketing, lead generation, event apps and only very few of us had been managing virtual or hybrid events (attended both online and in-person). The advent of Covid-19 accelerated the adoption of technology as more events had no choice but to go online, and event planners began a very steep learning curve.

At Fizz Marketing we are under no illusion. We know that events are unlikely to go back to being what they were, but we believe that we will have the best of both worlds as events will move hybrid for the foreseeable future. What this means is that your event will be open to a much broader audience as attendees from all parts of the globe can join the event and travel and time zones will not be a barrier to attendance. Technology for captioning of presentations is now readily available making it even more inclusive for other languages and the deaf community.

Fizz have also seen the benefit in the up to the minute statistics and data that many of the virtual event platforms offer, allowing us to quickly provide clients and sponsors valuable information to measure their ROI as well as insights that can be used when planning future events.

We’ve always been able to provide certain statistics, but imagine being able to tell one of your sponsors exactly what time people were visiting their virtual stand.

Exactly what brochures they downloaded or videos they watched, all down to the minute. Speakers will be able to see what content their audience loved – and if they lost some of their audience, they will be able to see at exactly what point in their discussion this happened. Virtual exhibition stands will have the ability to live way beyond the event itself and what we may see is more of a digital directory for events with similar interests as opposed to once off exhibition areas.

With all these changes and new technologies there will of course be increased concerns around the security, privacy and personal information. Getting to know various technology platforms that are easy to use, stable and guarantee www.businesseventsafrica.com

SPECIAL FEATURE | The New World | Organisers

certain safeguards will be paramount to any organiser, and more and more companies and individuals will come to rely on those in the know to make their event a success.

For us, in person events where we can look each other in the eye, share a drink and make a real human connection will always win out against technology, but in this brave new world it’s nice to know we have options that we can rely on!

Herkie du Preez, senior event manager of Event Wizards

Yes, our industry has been rattled as conferences and events were and still are postponed or even cancelled but this cannot mean the end. Within the business community there still exists the demand for communication to share knowledge, information, skills, technology, do marketing and numerous other facets existing in an economic world.

As event professionals we have to provide the means to clients for accomplishing all their existing and forever growing and changing requirements and goals.

Achieving this the industry is seeing a definite move towards Hybrid Events.

Many conferences and events have had hybrid elements for many years so luckily there are existing tools already in place for everyone to pivot to virtual or hybrid events. Our industry is extremely innovative and trust me the solutions and knowledge regarding this technology tripled during the past few months.

As an organiser you must make sure you fully understand the concept of a hybrid or virtual event, which takes additional research and self-development time to be added to your daily schedule. There exists a lively exchange of knowledge and ideas on the web and the players in the event industry field are in constant conversation.

I always enjoy sites such as Event Manager www.businesseventsafrica.com

Blog and EventBrite. Connect with local associations, suppliers as well fellow event professionals – now is the time to collaborate and assist each other.

Get comfortable with meeting technology, expand your digital skill set and understand the requirements of the new event landscape – online events, webinars, and live streaming, etc. Your event team will change, take on new roles and video production managers, script writers and digital experts will move into top priority positions. Event greening and sustainability will still be of utmost importance, and moving forward maybe even more so.

As conference organisers one of our roles, if not the most important role, is to connect and engage people. This has always been challenging, but now even more so and you have to get right! Spend time on event design and find that human element or emotion in the given brief and make it ‘speak’ to your virtual audience.

With current limitations we should look into merging or co-locating conferences with a hybrid experience, be smart with budget planning, sponsorship, engagement and particularly important is adhering to the health and safety protocols.

It is our responsibility as organisers to educate our clients, partners, and sponsors on the benefits of hybridising events and the numerous beneficial opportunities existing in the new world of conferencing and convince them to confidently proceed with their events calendar.

Gill Martini, project management specialist, Phambili African Events

Well this little bug has certainly hit me and our industry for a six! Who would have thought that after 20 years in the events and conferencing industry I would

have to reinvent the way I do business?

However like any other profession, the market has spoken (read the virus has dictated!) and we have had to adapt.

I have been spending my “lockdown” time thinking about our business whilst also educating myself, mainly in the “digital world” that changes on a daily basis. Always asking ourselves“ How will we adapt?”

I have attended webinars where prominent international conferencing, tourism and event specialists have spoken, made contact with IT specialists, attended virtual workshops and demonstrations. All the while, asking myself…how does this apply to SA? We, at Phambili African Events have had to rethink our business model.

1. Conferences, exhibitions and events will not only be virtual going forward.

Why? Because we are part of the creative industry and people still require some element of physical communication.

2. Going forward the virtual aspects for both conferencing and exhibitions will need to be included into our proposals.

3. Our project management plan will need to incorporate the logistics and implementation of this aspect of the project.

4. Our delegate categories will need to be expanded to manage the virtual element.

5. We will need to source and surround ourselves by the best IT brains the country has to offer to ensure that the virtual element of our international events is world class. No dropping of signal, bad sound quality, delayed audio etc.

6. We will need to relook at our budgeting costs: Do we really need an expensive keynote speaker physically present at our opening ceremonies?

7. Sponsorship, branding and the marketing strategies will need to be adapted to market needs.

8. When bidding for International Events, socio – economic, health and environmental local policies will need to be looked at as the world has become more aware of where the delegate travels.

The conferencing and events Industry must become more acute in the way we do business. We cannot accept as a fait acompli what is done in the rest of the world. Our industry employs thousands, job creation is imperative to the economy of South Africa and we as the events industry needs to be conscience of this at all times.

Business Events Africa August 2020 11

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

UFI Global Barometer shows UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has released the latest edition of its flagship Global Barometer research, which takes the pulse of the industry.

UFI Global Exhibition

Barometer

25th Edition

Report based on the results of a survey concluded in July 2020

Global

Southern Africa

Macau

United Kingdom

Russia

Spain

Singapore

Central & South America

US

South Korea

Thailand

Mexico

Brazil

Indonesia Australia India

Japan

T

he report highlights the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the exhibition industry worldwide.

Globally, 85 per cent of companies declared their overall level of activity was “normal” in January. This quickly dropped to 15 per cent in March, to reach between five and six per cent in April, May and June. For both April and May, 73 per cent of companies worldwide declared “no activity”.

With a majority of companies expecting “local” and “national” exhibitions to open again during the second half of 2020, the level of activity is expected to slowly increase, and two companies out of three project at least a “reduced” level of activity in the last quarter of 2020. In all regions, a majority of companies believe

that exhibitions with an international scope will not open until 2021.

Globally, revenues for the first half of 2020 dropped by two thirds on average, compared with the same period last year. Looking at 2020 as a whole, it is currently expected that globally revenues will represent only 39 per cent of those of 2019.

In terms of profits, a strong level of performance was reached in 2019, with 45 per cent of companies declaring an increase of more than 10 per cent for 2019 when compared to 2018. The sharp drop in revenues that occurred in 2020 so far has led to a loss for 39 per cent of companies, and only seven per cent of companies currently expect a stable or increased profit for 2020.

44 per cent of companies that

12 Business Events Africa August 2020

After monthly activities dropped sharply everywhere in the world, the industry is gradually starting up again. participated in the research have stopped all of their investments. At the same time, 50 per cent of companies are increasing their investments in digitalisation programmes. By comparison, investments have decreased or been stopped for 55 per cent of companies in programmes related to diversity, and 54 per cent in those related to sustainability.

The survey also tackles possible driving trends for the format of exhibitions in the coming years. Global results indicate that 57 per cent are confident that “Covid-19 confirms the value of face-to-face events”, www.businesseventsafrica.com

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

global impact of Covid-19 Revenues for 2020 are expected to represent 39 per cent of 2019 revenues. anticipating that the sector will bounce back quickly, whereas 31 per cent are “not sure” and 12 per cent are “not sure at all” or “disagree completely”.

“On the back of an exceptional year in 2019, we are now seeing an unprecedented drop in revenues around the world. While the industry remains confident that it will bounce back, everyone is aware that this crisis will lead to major changes in the way exhibitions are produced, especially with a push towards more digital elements before, during, and between events,” said Kai Hattendorf, UFI managing director and chief executive officer.

Size and scope

This latest edition of UFI’s bi-annual industry survey was concluded in June 2020 and includes data from a record 459 companies in 62 countries and regions.

The study delivers outlooks and analysis for 20 countries and regions: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the US. In addition, it analyses five aggregated regional zones.

“We sincerely thank all companies who took part in this study, as its results provide strong insights, for 25 markets and regions, to several key questions raised in relation to the crisis,” said Christian Druart, UFI research manager.

Operations in 2020 – reopening exhibitions Each region follows the level of operations indicated above for the world, with two notable differences: • The Asia-Pacific region first faced a drop in activity: only 73 per cent of companies declared a “normal” level in January compared to a minimum of 85 per cent in all other regions; in February, the level had already dropped to 45 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region.

• The Middle East & Africa, and to some extent Central and South America, appear less confident as www.businesseventsafrica.com

Research delivers dedicated profiles for 25 markets and regions.

At the same time, 44 per cent did, and for a majority of those, it related to less than 10 per cent of their costs.

The short-term investments required to comply with Covid-19 (likely) protocols and guidelines appear unknown at this point in time for one company out of three in general. For one company out of four, they will represent more than 10 per cent of their overall costs.

Generally speaking, all 2020 investments are stopped for 44 per cent of companies throughout the world, and they will decrease for another 32 per cent of companies. All those proportions apply to most regions, with a few significant differences: • Financial public support is less frequent in the Middle East & Africa and in North America, where only respectively 31 per cent and 38 per cent benefitted from some.

• 60 per cent of companies have stopped all their investments in Central and South America.

to the return to a “normal” level of activity than in other regions. In both those regions, a majority of companies expect that “national” exhibitions won’t open until 2021.

Turnover – operating profits In addition to the global results indicated above, regional results indicate that: • The revenue drop for all of 2020 is expected to be slightly higher in the Middle East & Africa and Central and South America (respectively only 31 per cent and 33 per cent of last year’s revenue) than in the Asia-Pacific region (39 per cent) or Europe and North America (44 per cent for both) • In terms of profits, the percentage of companies expecting a loss for 2020 varies from 34 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region to 48 per cent in the Middle East & Africa, and around four companies out of ten in all other regions.

Impact of Covid-19 on specific programmes

Cost reductions – public financial support – investments Overall, 87 per cent of companies applied cost reductions, and of more than 50 per cent of overall costs for 17 per cent of them. A majority of companies did not get any public financial support.

Results indicate that, on average, companies consider that the transition of the exhibition industry is more than halfway for digitalisation (2.9 on a scale of 1-5), diversity (2.9) and sustainability (2.8).

It can be noticed that those ratings do not vary much from one region to another.

Out of the three areas, digitalisation programmes are those where

Business Events Africa August 2020 13

Detailed results for South Africa INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Most important business issues in the exhibition industry 29%

South Africa

33%

Global

27% 21%

18% 12%

Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the business

State of the economy in home market

7%

Global economic developments

10%

Impact of digitisation

12% 7%

3%

Yes, for sure

Covid-19 the value of face to face events - sector bounces back quickly Not sure confirms at all

21%

Not at all Lesssure international “physical” exhibitions, and overall less participants

21%

th

Most important business issues “Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the business” is considered as the most important business issue (27 per cent of combined answers). Also, for the first time, “Impact of digitalisation” (10 per cent of answers) joins the “State of the economy in home market” (21 per cent) and “Global economic developments” (18 per cent) in the top priorities. “Internal challenges” and “Competition from within the industry”, always in the top four most important business issues, are ranked below for this survey, with respectively seven per cent (15 per cent six months ago) and five per cent of answers (20 per cent six months ago).

It can be noticed that “State of the economy in home market” is ranked as

5%

16%

the top issue in Central and South America, and the Middle East & Africa.

Format of exhibitions in the coming years

0%

5%

Most probably

Not sure

Other

Not sure at all

37% 42%

21%

16%

In line with UFI’s objective to provide vital data and best practices to the entire exhibition industry, the full results can be downloaded at www. ufi.org/research.

Definitely not

21%

47% 21%

1%

0%

Competition from within the industry

Competition with other media

16%

About possible driving trends, global results indicate that: • 57 per cent are confident that “Covid-19 confirms the value of face-to-face events” anticipating that the sector will bounce back quickly (19 per cent “Yes, for sure” and 38 per cent “Most probably”), but 31 per cent are “Not sure”.

• 56 per cent believe that there will be “Less international ‘physical’ exhibitions, and overall, less participants” (13 per cent “Yes, for sure” and 44 per cent “Most probably”), and 25 per cent are “Not sure”.

• 82 per cent of companies consider that there is “A push towards hybrid events, more digital elements at events” (30 per cent “Yes, for sure” and 52 per cent “Most probably”).

• A minority of 17 per cent agrees with “Virtual events replacing physical events” (three per cent “Yes, for sure” and 14 per cent “Most probably”), and 20 per cent are “Not sure”.

There is one significant regional differentiation: • “Virtual events replacing physical events”, with stronger and opposing views – from Europe, where 80 per cent of companies disagree, and from North America, where “only” 50 per cent do.

14 Business Events Africa August 2020

5%

32%

A push towards “hybrid” events, more digital elements at events

Covid-19 had the most impact (“strong” or “significant” for 60 per cent of companies).

Globally, 25 UFI Global Exhibition Barometer / July 2020 © every second company has increased their investments in that area. By comparison, investments have decreased or been stopped for 55 per cent of companies in their programmes related to diversity, and 54 per cent for those related to sustainability.

Around one company out of two indicates that public investments are “essential and necessary for most of the investments” required towards digitalisation (50 per cent of companies) and sustainability (46 per cent), and “necessary for a significant share” towards diversity (49 per cent).

3%

Regulatory / Stakeholders issues

Internal challenges

Format of exhibitions in the coming years

“Virtual” events replacing “physical” events

6%

5% 16%

5%

11%

5%

42%

Background

The 25th Global Barometer survey, conducted in June153 2020, provides insights from 459 companies in 62 countries and regions.

It was conducted in collaboration with 17 UFI Member Associations: AAXO (The Association of African Exhibition Organisers) and EXSA (Exhibition and Event Association of Southern Africa) in South Africa, AEO (Association of Event Organisers) in the UK, AFE (Spanish Trade Fairs Association) in Spain, AFIDA (Asociación Internacional de Ferias de América) representing Central and South America, AKEI (The Association of Korean Exhibition Industry) in South Korea, AMPROFEC (Asociación Mexicana de Profesionales de Ferias y Exposiciones y Convenciones) in Mexico, EEAA (The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia) in Australia, IECA (Indonesia Exhibition Companies Association) in Indonesia, IEIA (Indian Exhibition Industry Association) in India, JEXA (Japan Exhibition Association) in Japan, MFTA (Macau Fair Trade Association) in Macau, RUEF (The Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs) in Russia, SECB (Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau) in Singapore, SISO (Society of Independent Show Organizers) in the US, TEA (Thai Exhibition Association) in Thailand and UBRAFE (União Brasileira dos Promotores Feiras) in Brazil.

The next UFI Global Barometer survey will be conducted in December 2020. www.businesseventsafrica.com

PERSONALITY PROFILE

Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo

“Let this be a time to dream of the new normal” Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, 54, chief operating officer of City Lodge Hotel Group, has been in the hospitality industry for 33 years.

“M

y first job was as a receptionist at the Grand Hyatt in Washington DC. I was promoted to housekeeping supervisor, and later to assistant front office manager before leaving for South Africa to join the Park Hyatt Johannesburg (now the Hyatt Regency Johannesburg) in Rosebank in 1995 as an assistant front office manager. I was part of the opening team, and we opened the first international brand in South Africa post-democracy in July 1995.”

Looking to the future, she said: “Given the curveball the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown at us the world over, my dream is for a unified tourism and hospitality industry to come together and rebuild our sector, which has been decimated by the impact of Covid-19. I believe the road to recovery will initially be rough for many of us, especially given that the pandemic is here to stay until a vaccine is discovered.

We therefore need to see the silver lining behind the cloud, and let this be a time to dream of the new normal, new ways of utilising technology, a time to introduce new food and beverage experiences for our guests, a time to introduce new concepts for meetings and events.”

“Life will have to go on, and in that we need to give the assurance to all guests who need accommodation, food and beverage, meetings and events, to become the hospitality and tourism practitioners who are there to offer www.businesseventsafrica.com

unique experiences. It’s time for the next generation to take over, so I dream of that generation of digital natives and millennials who already see things very differently from my generation, who will bring a new perspective to hospitality and tourism,” Ms Sangweni-Siddo added.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Swaziland because my parents left South Africa shortly after they got married on 11 July 1965 and relocated to Swaziland. During my primary school years, my parents moved from Swaziland to Holland, back to Swaziland and then to Zambia.

From 1981 to 1983, my last years of high school were at a boarding school called Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland, where I did my Cambridge ‘O’ Levels. At the end of 1983, I joined my parents in Nairobi, Kenya, and completed my Cambridge ‘A’ Levels.

My father, a rural sociologist, worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Zambia, and later for the United Nations Environmental Program in Kenya.

Where did you start your career?

I studied hotel management in Switzerland at the acclaimed Ecole Les Roches from 1987 to 1989. During those three years, I could say my career began because I had to undergo internships

every six months during the school curriculum at various Swiss hospitality establishments. When I had graduated from Ecole Les Roches, I continued my hospitality education in the US, studying at Penn State University where I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HRIM) in 1993. My first job was as a receptionist at the Grand Hyatt in Washington DC in 1993.

What do you enjoy most about it?

I have loved every aspect of my hospitality career. I love seeing the delight in guests’ eyes when we have pleased them and surprised them with small things that make a difference.

Whilst at the Park Hyatt Johannesburg, we hosted many wonderful heads of state such as Presidents Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela.

I left the Hyatt group in 1999 and joined government, as a chief director in the National Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. That was short lived because I was poached by Southern Sun Hotels (now Tsogo Sun Hotels) as general manager for the InterContinental Sandton Towers hotel in 2000, where I remained for five years. One of the greatest milestones was the hosting of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), where we hosted heads of state from all over the world. It was magical!

Business Events Africa August 2020 15

PERSONALITY PROFILE

I left the Southern Sun Group to start my own business, opening the first Holiday Inn in Soweto, which later changed its name to the Soweto Hotel and Conference Centre.

The greatest milestone was when South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup – that was so uplifting for our industry at a time we most needed it, given that the world economy was coming out of a recession. South Africans were united!

In 2011, I joined the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre, first as managing director and then promoted to chief executive officer.

I left in 2015 to join the City Lodge Hotel Group as divisional director: operations and was later promoted to chief operating officer in June 2018.

What has been the biggest change you’ve seen in this sector?

That’s a tough question because I think there are a few instances to cite. I think the transformation of our industry has been an important one. I am the sitting chairperson of the Tourism Transformation Council of South Africa, and I believe all players in our sector should place transformation at the forefront.

Whilst I believe we are very far from where we ought to be, the introduction of the Amended Tourism Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Sector Codes in order to advance and strengthen the objectives of the B-BBEE Amendment Act No.46 of 2013 in the tourism sector is notable.

What role does your family play in your life?

I have been married to Salifou Siddo for 25 years. Salif and I do not have our own biological children, but we are aunt and uncle and godparents to many beautiful children in our family. We have a large extended family, located around the world from Niger to South Africa, to Tanzania, to the US, to Australia. Every one of our relatives is deeply endeared to us. My family means everything to me, and they bring me the balance I need given that our industry can be all-consuming.

Before Covid-19, we enjoyed large, happy gatherings every Sunday over lunch and so have found lockdown very challenging. Thank goodness for virtual platforms – we recently celebrated my mother’s 84th birthday virtually with about 60 members of the family!

Do you have any hobbies?

I love travelling and visiting interesting places, and I love reading, writing and cooking.

Any unusual ones? I am assisting my aunt to write her autobiography, and hopefully I can begin my own soon.

Do you play any sports?

I am not very sporty so I force myself to stay fit by walking, which I enjoy.

What is your favourite sport?

I like watching tennis. I am not an avid tennis follower, but if Serena is playing, I will follow. She has got to be the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) – in tennis!

What do you do for leisure?

Before the restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, Salif and I loved taking a sho’t left and driving to places like Clarens or Dullstroom for a long weekend.

What is your secret to success?

The thing about success is that I don’t believe you recognise it as success until you look back and can see what you have achieved. What I do know about success is that you cannot do anything alone.

When I look back to what I believe were my successes, I recognise that there was always an individual(s) involved in walking the journey with me, participating with me, working with me, coaching and leading me, or simply being there all the time. I also believe firmly that God has always been with me through it all.

What has been your biggest challenge in this sector?

The biggest challenge in this sector is and continues to be the slow pace of transformation. Lack of access to funding and a previously disadvantaged background for many black players means that accessing funding for start-up businesses is often a struggle, especially without surety. Covid-19 has dealt transformation an even harder blow given that many SMMEs have gone belly-up and closed shop. Many aspects of transformation are on hold, with bigger businesses temporarily closed or mothballed. This means that small black suppliers who are part of enterprise and supplier development procurement processes, who would have been part of the value chain, have lost big clients

16 Business Events Africa August 2020

and have therefore lost income and are not able to sustain themselves.

What is the most memorable place you have ever been to, and why?

It has got to be Bali, Indonesia. Salif and I, together with our two nephews, our cousins and their children travelled there on holiday two years ago. It was everything I had imagined and more!

I loved the humility and kindness of the people. Everybody in Indonesia understands the value of tourism.

I loved the food, culture, religious temples we visited, museums, beaches, artistry of people – it was just lovely.

I will go back one day, especially to immerse myself in and understand the spiritual culture of the Indonesians.

If you could be anyone for the day who would you be and why?

Michelle Obama – when reading her book Becoming, I realised what a down to earth upbringing she had. In spite of all of the struggles her parents went through, they were able to provide their children with great educational backgrounds, which opened so many doors and opportunities for her. I love how she was so accessible and humble even when she was the first lady of the USA. She continues to share her journey with the youth, and so many women who may have lost faith and a belief in themselves, and reminds us all how we can keep evolving and becoming the next best version of ourselves.

What is your favourite city?

I love Paris. I’ll never forget one of the hottest summers in Paris, together with my hubby and two godchildren, as we enjoyed ice-creams and lay on our backs on the grass, looking up at the Eiffel Tower.

What is your favourite book, film and TV programme?

Favourite book: Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou Film: Love Brewed in the African Pot TV programme: House Hunters International

What is your favourite food?

I have been a vegan for the past three years, and occasionally eat fish or organic chicken. On our last home to visit Salif’s folks in Niger, we were treated to grilled www.businesseventsafrica.com

PERSONALITY PROFILE

guinea fowl. If I lived there permanently, that would be my favourite food.

Who is your favourite movie star?

I have a few: I love classical actors like Cicely Tyson, Al Pacino and Meryl Streep.

I also love Oprah Winfrey’s acting.

What is the most impulsive thing you have ever done?

Salif and I booked a sea motorbike when we visited Jamaica and we sped off upon the Atlantic to catch sight of dolphins – I was so scared!

My mother is my role model. She became a stay at home mom when my brother and I were small, and she dedicated herself to raising us. As we grew up, she returned to teaching as a home economics teacher. I remember spending many a night watching and helping her try out various recipes in preparation for her students the next day. She is probably the reason I enjoy cooking and trying out different recipes to this today. I cherish her down-toearthiness, generosity and humility.

Professionally, the first woman who hired me for my first job at the Grand Hyatt in Washington DC, Gail HowardSmith, is my other role model. She was the rooms division director at the time, and I had received over ten rejection letters to applications for jobs, including from her. Having received the 10th rejection letter, I decided to catch a four-hour trip on a Greyhound bus, and travelled from my university of State College, Pennsylvania to Washington DC. When I arrived at the hotel, without an appointment, I asked if I could meet with her as I wanted to hear from her in person why I had been rejected for the job of receptionist. She was called out and this tall, African-American woman dressed beautifully in a designer suit came out to meet me. She introduced herself as Gail and asked how she could help. I told her I was there to get full feedback from her on why my application had been turned down. She paused, looked at me, and told me to wait whilst she went to call the front office manager. She returned with him and introduced him to me, informing me that he would be interviewing me right away. By the end of the interview, I was hired. I never stopped looking up to Gail Howard-Smith. She gave me so much www.businesseventsafrica.com

Photograph: John Hogg

Who is your role model?

great counsel. One of the greatest lessons she taught me was humility. Six months into my working there she asked me to apply for the position of supervisor in housekeeping, saying, “There is nothing better than getting into the trenches and understanding the hardest job of all, cleaning 16 rooms a day, cleaning toilets and bathrooms, and understanding that without clean rooms, you cannot check guests in.” I have never looked back since that turning point in my life.

What advice do you have for anyone starting out in this industry and hoping to follow in your footsteps?

I always advise young people looking for a career in the hospitality industry, to do so because they are passionate

about serving others, and ensuring that whatever their role is in the value chain, it is about perfection and delivering service and products that must leave an indelible memory for that guest who has paid for the service, or experience.

I also believe you must feel a thrill every single day when you step out onto that stage, be it the front desk, the restaurant, the kitchen, or anywhere in the establishment, and your heart must race with excitement as you deliver the best to every single guest.

Our industry demands a lot of time, physical and mental stamina, and pots of passion. It is fun and you will meet the most amazing human beings whilst on the job! Do your research and make sure you are very sure that this is what you would like to do.

Business Events Africa August 2020 17

GUIDELINES FOR REOPENING THE SECTOR

Reigniting the events industry As many will no doubt be aware the entire events industry of South Africa has been at a complete standstill since the ban on public gatherings was imposed by The President in March 2020. We were the first to close and will be the last to reopen.

18 Business Events Africa August 2020

www.businesseventsafrica.com

GUIDELINES FOR REOPENING THE SECTOR

By Mike Lord, interim chair of Event Safety Council and founding member of SA Event Council and director of Alliance Safety Management

W

ithout a clearly defined plan of action for the reopening of an industry that is currently collapsing, the hopes and dreams of its people and the businesses within this sector will die.

As we pass 120 days of lockdown, with cases of Covid-19 continuing to grow, the economy of South Africa continues to decline. We are in cardiac arrest and we need to do whatever we must to urgently rebuild our economy.

The events industry, primarily made up of small to medium enterprises, are the roots of the trees making up the economic forest. Events connect and grow industries.

We need to put hope and trust back into corporate South Africa. To restart the events industry by getting back into boardrooms, coming together for meetings and hosting conferences. The holding and hosting of interactive live platforms allow the events industry to take seed again and to start regrowing.

It’s an ignition to the overall economy.

Without the platform that events like the Mining Indaba, Meetings Africa, Africa Travel Indaba, World Travel Market Africa, Electra Mining and the World Economic Forum create, our industries are not showcasing and growing the economy of our country.

Covid-19 is becoming an accepted way of living and we are learning how to interact with one another in a safe way keeping ourselves and others safe. Many of us are practicing what we need to do in order to stop the spread of this virus. Based on these learnings we believe that our industry can be trusted to arrange events in a safe, controlled and organised manner.

As custodians of the events industry, we know that bringing people together can potentially spread the virus, but we also know that there are practical steps that can be taken to allow us to congregate safely. Now more than ever we need to find a way to bring people together, to build hope and re-energise ourselves.

It is now time to get back to work, to reconnect and start rebuilding our economy using the events, conference, confex, exhibition and meeting platforms.

It’s time to put our brands out there.

The events industry is uniting to do just that. On this front I am proud to lead the Event Safety Council, an affiliate of the global Event Safety Alliance. Working with www.businesseventsafrica.com

our partners and association members as the South African Event Council we are drafting the way forward.

The Event Safety Council has been instrumental in developing Reopening Guidelines for getting the events industry back to work. As a collective we are working tirelessly to develop a plan and strategy for navigating the storm we are currently in.

The SA Event Council consists of 12 member associations with over 2 250 members, representing over 50 000 event professionals.

The work we have done developing the Reopening Guidelines is important for engaging with government and other stakeholders regarding how we open up the events industry safely. As representatives of the events industry sector, we believe that a consistent, national approach is the only practical means for us to reopen events safely while Covid-19 is still prevalent.

We believe a phased plan will be acceptable to both the government and the entities representing it, working closely with the South African Police Services and the various local authorities currently governing events across South Africa using the existing safety protocols.

The Reopening Guidelines are based upon a five-tiered risk exposure model advocated by the World Health Organisation and incorporate the four cornerstones of prevention and control: 1. Social distancing including personal protective equipment.

2. Protect and detect systems incorporating effective risk assessment protocols and screening processes based on DoH Guidelines and DoEL Directions.

3. Communication and data management protocols including technological contact tracing processes.

4. Effective personal hygiene, cleaning and sanitisation protocols.

Event management processes incorporating these elements, coupled with the government’s risk adjusted approach and our industry Reopening Guidelines and with public and private sector collaborating, this will allow events to be hosted in a safe, controlled and organised manner.

Using a framework that

meet the requirements of the Department of Health and Department of Employment and Labour, events can be reopened safely and within a timeframe that prevents the closure of a vast number of businesses and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next two to three months.

The Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) and the SA Events Council held a very successful “Proof of Concept” business conference on 22 July simultaneously in five cities across South Africa. Delegates joined us in person in conference rooms in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekwini, proving that events can be held safely with the right protocols.

Each venue had 50 attendees with many delegates interacting with us online.

This national business conference was a huge success. The energy and excitement shared by each attendee was palpable.

People were energised and eager to get our industry back on its feet. The business conference was compliant with all the applicable regulations and directions.

Meeting and networking highlighted the importance of face-to-face engagement and the ideas shared reiterated why it is so important to bring people together.

The SA Event Council, in conjunction with our partners and stakeholders, continue to provide platforms and strategies that highlight the plight of the events industry and are embarking on many initiatives directed towards finding solutions to reopen the sector as soon as possible.

We continue to engage with government on a national level and ask them to trust us and work with us in plotting the way forward. We ask the government, our provinces and our cities to keep working with us to reignite our industry and to find ways to rebuild, before what has taken decades to build is permanently lost.

Now more than ever we need to come together.

Who is Mike Lord?

Mike Lord has personally been involved with over 4,000 local and international events at major stadiums, arenas, convention centres and venues across Africa since 1996. Mike specialises in venue management, risk and safety management in the events sector.

Business Events Africa August 2020 19

DESIGN TRENDS

FJORD TRENDS 2020

Realigning the fundamentals in South Africa

By Marcel Rossouw, group director for Fjord Johannesburg

The next three years do not look like the new normal – they look like the never normal. It is not a pessimistic way of describing it but a realistic way, and it means that we need to think long and hard about planning and strategy and execution.

T

here will be a lot of strategic thinking wastage over the next three years, and in our view, we cannot spend enough time studying how people are thinking and how they are reacting to the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, the economy, and technology.

For the 13th year running, Fjord – design and innovation from Accenture Interactive, has forecasted trends that we believe will manifest at the intersection of business, technology and design.

We have revisited the Fjord Trends 2020 under a different lens in view of the current climate and changes that businesses are facing as a result of Covid-19. We found that the pandemic has accelerated the impact of these seven trends on business, people and society.

The seven trends in the South African context Our initial study, released at the end of 2019, draws upon the collective thinking of Fjord’s 1,200+ designers and developers in 33 studios around the world. The annual crowdsourced report

is based on first-hand observations, evidenced-based research and client work, to produce a globally diverse set of trends that continues to reflect the collaborative journey between business, society, design innovation and technology.

The pandemic has accelerated our adoption and collaboration with technology. The new normal looks more like the never normal and presents exciting opportunities for business to embrace innovation using design thinking and technology.

Trend 1: The many faces of growth A fundamental reset button has been pressed by the pandemic and placed purpose at the centre of the lens.

Capitalism is facing a midlife crisis and organisations must start reassessing corporate purpose and recalibrate how they see their role in the world around them. Although profit is critical for companies to remain sustainable, we are looking at what other things beyond profit are, the innovation between meaning and matrix, and how you might measure that.

In South Africa, we saw how Coca Cola South Africa realised they needed to shift their business priorities. They partnered with Pepco, a not-for-profit recycling company, and successfully drove in country recycling of plastic bottles up from 14 per cent in 2005 to 65 per cent.

If you put this against the backdrop of a R250 million a year recycling industry, that also provides an income for over 64,000 people. It places our country ahead of the EU and the US in plastic bottle recycling. This provides a powerful example of the new types of value.

20 Business Events Africa August 2020

Trend 2: Money changers As digital currencies come into being, our mental model of what money does and how we perceive money, changes.

Covid-19 has accelerated societies into becoming cashless and has shifted how we view money. These tectonic shifts create numerous opportunities for a host of new products and players. In 2019 we saw a launch of three new digital banks in South Africa alone.

In Tanzania, mobile money users were previously required to send a long string of 40-digit codes to send money to another user. A certain company saw this as an opportunity to differentiate and developed an experience-led solution to make money transfers and the payments simpler by cutting out those codes and using just a single layer for a multi-SIM user to manage all their mobile money accounts in one place. Africa has for years led the world in understanding how money can change.

Trend 3: Walking barcodes Our physical bodies are becoming as trackable as our digital selves. However, when it comes to facial and body recognition technology, what is the tradeoff between privacy and convenience?

Although there is much controversy on this, it may be here to stay as we move from the Internet of Things to the Internet of Bodies. In UK telemedicine for instance the use of facial recognition has helped to scan the way a patient is responding to how a doctor is talking to them in a virtual conversation. The system then provides real-time feedback to the doctor about whether the patient seems to understand what the doctor is saying or not. This could be critically important especially in the pandemic and will most www.businesseventsafrica.com

DESIGN TRENDS

likely persist after the pandemic is over.

Locally, around 494 million sub-Saharan Africans are without official proof of identity, which is important to enable healthcare, financial and government services. Biometric solutions can help.

However, they leave no room for data mistakes, and with more than half of Africa’s 54 countries having no data protection or privacy laws, and of the 14 countries that do, 9 have no regulators to enforce them, which poses a real challenge in managing and protecting data.

Trend 4: Liquid people Consumption habits are changing as people perceive and define their identity in ever more liquid ways.

Considerable opportunity exists in providing new experiences of consuming. We are seeing an end to mindless consuming as people become more thoughtful on what they do, and for what cause.

The South African Plastic Pact was set up by the Worldwide Fund for Nature, for businesses, governments and NGOs to collaborate to address plastic waste and pollution issues across the country.

The signatories to the Plastic Pact locally include Distell, Massmart, Pick n Pay, Shoprite Group, Tiger Brands, Unilever, Woolworths, to name a few. The initiative provides an opportunity for big business to show the South African consumer and their employees, that they care about making a sustainable difference.

The South African consumer is keen to see how businesses are documenting and telling the stories of how they are making a difference in collaboration with their customers and employees. The word consumer may find a new meaning and ultimately be replaced in the near future by a new word that describes people who buy and use products.

Trend 5: Designing intelligence The human experience is growing increasingly complex. The next step for AI is to move beyond automation to designing systems that blend human and artificial intelligence and enhance the interplay between both. Although AI is being used to combat the pandemic, this trend has the least evidence of change specifically because of Covid-19.

In 2019 a pan-African Bank approached us to help them with the implementation of a virtual agent strategy, to upskill and train their call centre agents into new www.businesseventsafrica.com

roles. AI was implemented as supportive technology to help their call centre agents.

The outcome of the project proved to add value to the human workforce, freeing up their time to do more valuable work, and also reduced the time for requests to be resolved by up to 65 per cent. AI is not just a technology component to slot in to improve a process, it is something that can become part of day-to-day strategy.

It should not be working apart from humans, but rather with humans. As Ray Kurzweil puts it; “It is a race with the machines”.

Trend 6: Digital doubles Make way for your digital double who works for you and knows what you want.

Digital twins are evolving beyond industry and into our daily lives. We are already using avatars to a large extent and an all-digital modelling agency already exists called The Digitals which represents only synthetic human beings such as Shudu and Galaxia, the world’s first alien supermodel.

We are beginning to create tools that allow us to have synthetic versions of ourselves.

Eternime is an example of this, a programme that collects all your personal data including video and voice to replicate yourself so that your descendants can interact with you in perpetuity.

Increasingly we will be able to create digital doubles of ourselves to manage certain aspects of our lives as a form of predictive maintenance. Covid-19 has massively accelerated this, however this trend is the least applicable to Africa.

The mining industry comes close by allowing leadership and employees to manage the mine from any location, but overall digital doubles are not speeding up here as they are in developed countries.

Trend 7: Life-centered design The focus of desirability, viability, and feasibility is moving from “me” to “we.”

Can design extend beyond its own ecosystem, shifting from a usercentric to a lifecentric approach? Systemic effects are indeed beginning to matter to both organisations and people making both more conscious of the wider purpose.

A technology business called Lumkani leverages an IoT heat detector which is bundled with insurance to protect families in population-dense informal settlements from fires. They partnered with Hollard to introduce their product called Fire Cover, which is South Africa’s first insurance product that works using a radio frequency network. In the event of fire, the system disseminates a communitywide alert by sending a text message to all residents within a 60m radius of the triggered sensor. As South Africans, our sense of the collective is deeply rooted in our consciousness and this is a great example to show how businesses can create value as they react to change and redefine their purposes.

Rethink and realigning organisational values This year seems to have already provided us with a few watershed moments and indeed it seems like we are at a crossroads. It’s tempting to misinterpret this as a gloomy picture – instead, we think this is a once-in-alifetime chance to innovate and design business models, services and products around new definitions of value.

The pandemic has heightened the impact of a values-driven consumer and the role of business as a responsible corporate citizen. Business needs to rethink, revisit and realign their organisational values to meet the needs of the “never normal”. The initial Fjord Trends 2020 report is now even more applicable with the trends and the three year forecast in acceleration mode through the pandemic.

Businesses worldwide are grappling with what it means to do business in this new state of play, and how they can be a meaningful contributor to our collective wellbeing. For companies with the courage to recognise this metatrend, there are many opportunities and there will also be challenges. However, it plays out from here, one thing is likely: those who embrace the longterm view by starting with their impact on the world and society and embracing the systemic complexity of the world will reap value from the new never normal.

Business Events Africa August 2020 21

AAXO NEWS

Adapting in a new VUCA world

By Devi Paulsen-Abbott, vice chairperson of AAXO and vice president of dmg events

VUCA is an acronym standing for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous introduced by the US Army War College and took hold, especially in the business world after the 9/11 terror attacks.

T

he Covid-19 pandemic will certainly go down in history as one example of just how uncertain our world is.

The exhibitions and events industry in particular, has had to be responsive. In real time, we have witnessed a global reformation as we try and accommodate the new requirements of unchartered waters.

Over the past few months, we have had to literally rewrite our proverbial handbook on where work gets done, what we sell, who we market to, when we collaborate and how we create value in a world none of us could have ever predicted or saw coming.

Health and safety

‘The danger which is least expected soonest comes to us…’ Voltaire.

Although some of the current proposed health and safety practices, such as wearing masks, not shaking hands and checking temperatures, may be short-to-medium-term etiquette, some will turn into habits / the norm. For example, for many years the cruiseliner industry has been enforcing the

use of hand sanitisers around their vessels to protect passengers from Norovirus, which is a pervasive threat.

In the same vain, we will no doubt continue to add coronavirus protection to our health and safety checklists and budgets in the longer term.

The industry is well placed to demonstrate that we can balance the need to gather, network and interact with a real awareness of the need to heed to safe practices.

Innovation, technology and the 4th Industrial Revolution “Technology is only an enabler, which can help achieve the intention of the person who is using it…” Jane Chen.

Whilst the flood of virtual meetings may have proven that the need to take a flight to attend a two person meeting, is now almost redundant, medium to large live events fulfil a different need. Will these also pivot to a purely virtual environment? Probably not.

Live events offer opportunities that can’t be imitated digitally, even in the most realistic simulated platform.

However, what this pandemic has taught us is that technology will play a big role in our lives. Whether we use it to drive or deliver a hybrid, live or digital event, innovation and technology is going to fast-track the exhibitions and events industry into the 4IR. Think badgeless registration, automation, apps instead of paper-based handouts, AI to personalise experiences, and live streaming, to name a few.

As we continue to change our social norms, sanitise our hands and cover our faces, the upside of where we as an industry find ourselves right now is that we will no doubt be more agile in our new post-Covid-19 world. We look forward to seeing you there!

aaxo@aaxo.co.za | www.aaxo.co.za | 011 465 8955

EXSA NEWS

Industry overview

Connecting in the age of Covid-19 Nothing we do now is more essential than how we engage with government, with industry stakeholders, industry role players and our members. By Gill Gibbs, chairperson of EXSA

W

ith the changing face of the event and exhibition landscape and the response of the global industry community, we are forging forward to achieve recognition and support from government, with objectives that include clear, unified communication, timescales to build confidence for future event planning and priority action with regards to government recovery.

Fact: the business events industry will be a great contributor towards global economic recovery.

As each day rolls into yet another, we face Covid-19 challenges from further event cancellations, to new legislation, guidelines and rules. Despite the many and volatile stepping stones, we are committed to recovery for our industry and the global economy.

It is in times of crisis that we should never underestimate the power of collaboration, the strength of unity and industry association reciprocity.

In last month’s column, we revealed that EXSA is a founding member of the united industry body, the SA Events Council, which is representative of the majority of the exhibition and events

industry and illustrates the cohesion of the many industry role players from related industries for lobbying to government, including, to name a few: conferences, exhibitions & events, tourism, live events & concerts, audio & visual, film, weddings, and sports events.

Since the announcement of lockdown regulations allowing business events and conference venues to operate under clear guidelines, our objective is to illustrate and prove to government through actual inperson demonstration, that we can safely host gatherings of larger than 50 people.

The first step was to prepare the Events Safety Guidelines. Then, after months of strategic and intricate planning, in partnership with the SA Events Council and the Events Safety Council, SAACI’s rollout of the first in-person pilot runs was realised on 22 July – a nationwide, concurrent, five-city “proof of concept’’ conference.

This was based on the directions issued for the sector, with the inclusion of a Covid-19 mitigation plan as an extension of existing event planning mechanisms. As an industry community, we need to step back, assess and appreciate the planning, co-ordination and preparation that has

gone on behind the scenes to achieve an event feat such as this, in the interests of safely and responsibly reopening our sector.

The outcomes and results will be published in due course, along with the next steps.

Our associations have a critical role to play in serving our industry and, in extraordinary times like these, a different set of member needs. It’s also a time of opportunity, to learn, develop and support. Our purpose is to provide resources that assist and advise, to relay concise and accurate information and best practice by way of preparing for and dealing with the impact of Covid-19.

Some of our association measures include a variety of engagements, such as: • Our EXSA Connects meetings held via Zoom with guest speakers and relevant topics with introspective Q&A; • The SA Events Council webinar hosted on Surviving Now for the Future on 20 July 2020, with respect to business planning and contingency; • Highly impactful campaigns such as #LightSAred, launched on 20 July 2020 and #JobsSaveLives.

Watch this space – we will update you with new and exciting developments. In the meantime, take care and be safe.

SAACI NEWS

Safe events: we’ve proved we can do it!

By Glenton de Kock, chief executive officer of SAACI

As I pen this article, South Africa is experiencing a daily increase in reported Covid-19 infections.

While most industries have suffered negative consequences as a result of the pandemic, the events industry has been particularly devastated by the protracted lockdown and its economic impact.

A

s other industries have slowly begun resuming business activities, event organisers, venues and suppliers to the industry still await the broader reopening of our sector.

The back-to-work reopening guidelines were officially released to the local events industry on 17 June 2020. Fortuitously, later that day, government proposed an amendment to Alert Level 3 lockdown regulations which allow for the hosting of smaller business conferences, limited to no more than 50 attendees.

The Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) led an industry “Proof of Concept” in person business conference on 22 July 2020.

Based on the regulations and directives issued by the Minister of Tourism allowing business conferences with 50 attendees or less, SAACI, in partnership with the SA Event Council and the Event Safety Council, hosted this five-city proof of concept conference. The proof of concept was based on the directives issued and followed the requirements of the applicable legislation.

The Event Safety Council’s Reopening Guidelines were written in collaboration with the SA Event Council represented by the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI), the Association of African Exhibition Organisers (AAXO), Exhibition and Events Association of Southern Africa (EXSA), the Southern African Communications Industries Association (SACIA), the Technical Production & Services Association (TPSA), the Council of Events Professionals Africa (CEPA), the Event Greening Forum (EGF), the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), the Professional Conference Organisers’ Alliance Network (PCOAN) and the South African Live Performance Association (SALPA).

The result is an inclusive and informed set of guidelines, in which the entire events industry of South Africa is well represented and which paves the way to reopening the sector.

With the event industry already carrying out comprehensive risk assessment, safety checks and logistical planning for every event, the inclusion of a Covid-19 mitigation

plan as an extension of existing event planning mechanisms is easily achievable.

We will be putting in a comprehensive Covid-19 plan that covers all aspects of social distancing, track and trace, protecting, detecting and cleaning and hygiene.

A risk assessment for the conference was developed and all suppliers and associated companies supplied Covid-19 plans for their organisations. This was an invite-only conference so that all delegates would be known to SAACI. This allowed us to introduce an online prescreening and registration process and to provide induction protocols prior to arriving at the venue, with enhanced health screening on-site, prior to entry.

The “Proof of Concept” event saw organised industry coming together to embrace safety protocols that protect employers, employees and freelancers working in the events industry.

Through high-level collaboration we are proving that the event sector is competent, informed, safe and intent on reclaiming our space as an essential contributor to the economy.

THE ASSOCIATION FOR CONFERENCE INDUSTRY LEADERS

CONNECT SAACI unites , supports and educates the business

events industry in southern Africa by creating sustainable environment for business growth

THRIVE Join SAACI and enjoy access to an inspiring network of industry professionals, while giving your business the professional status it needs to attract the attention of business leaders.

GROW Become the business events professional you’ve always wanted to be. Access the SAACI Academy and enter a world of inspiration, connections and world-class skills development.

Visit our online community: www.saaci.org www.saacicongress.org www.saaci-academy.org

+27(0)11 880 5883 info@saaci.org Learning | Growth | collaboration

SITE NEWS

Site Africa hosts virtual summit

By Tes Proos, president of Site Africa

On 11 June 2020, SITE Africa hosted a virtual Summit with a number of African leaders in the business events arena. The theme was COLLABORATION in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.

I

t is widely recognised that the tourism sector at all levels is the hardest hit, being the first to close and potentially being the last to reopen.

South Africa’s number of infections are the highest in Africa by far, yet the industry has been extremely proactive in writing health protocol guidelines to ensure that the industry is ready to reopen with guest and employee safety front of mind.

Utilising the insights and viewpoints of the key business event travel and tourism stakeholders, the discussions highlighted the industry’s readiness to safely reopen for business while safeguarding economies and livelihoods.

The participants are confident that in spite of Covid-19, due to the self-regulatory nature of the industry, there are already Covid-19 associated protocols in place ensuring that the sector is capable and well prepared reopen for business.

To this point for example, in South Africa the Event Safety Council (ESC) has already established the Reopening Guidelines

for the event industry. These existing protocols highlight the importance of collaboration between African countries, careful planning and coordination of the sector, and strong leadership from the various governments in order to start the careful reopening of borders and airspace.

The Covid-19 crisis provides an ideal platform for African governments and the private sector to take a step back and reassess the economic health of the continent. They can then identify some

of the many opportunities that exist to redesign and realign sectors such as aviation, business and leisure tourism.

Carefully planned Pan African activities will have a direct, positive impact on regional economic growth. Where there is tourism, there is trade and this is a golden opportunity for Africa to make the most of finding new and novel ways to put the continent front of mind for both Intra-Africa and inbound business events and travel.

What we’re all about: motivational experiences Why we do it? Business results!

Site is the only global network of travel and event professionals committed to motivational experiences that deliver business results.

Site provides insights and connections that inspire the utilisation of this powerful tool across diverse industries, regions and cultures.

Site serves as a source of knowledge and best practices where members can make personal connections that sustain professional growth.

Only one organisation sits at the critical intersection between those who seek the benefits of motivational tools and those who can provide these extraordinary experiences. That organisation is Site...

Contact

Email: info@sitesouthernafrica.com www.sitesouthernafrica.com www.siteglobal.com

EVENT GREENING FORUM

The hierarchy of waste Gavin Heron, the co-founder and director of Earth Probiotic, gave a presentation on ‘Using the waste hierarchy to drive design and implementation decisions‘ at the Event Greening Forum’s training workshop at the start of the year. He explained how every purchasing decision you make for your events (or your business, or at home) should follow the hierarchy of waste in order to be as sustainable as possible. After all, prevention is better than landfill!

Gavin Heron, co-founder of Earth Probiotic.

1. Prevention: Is this necessary?

The first question to always ask is: Do you really need it? For example, you can probably forgo visitor gifts and printed marketing materials at your events without any adverse effects. Very often, these end up in the bin and do not provide value to your attendees’ experience.

If your answer is no – don’t do it!

2. Reduction: Do I have a waste minimisation plan?

For items you need, look for ways to reduce your material needs. This can be in terms of having less of something, as well as opting for reusable options.

For example, if you’re exhibiting, can you design a stand that requires fewer resources to make? If you’re hosting an annual event, can you create reusable branding, so that it does not need to be replaced each year? By using less, you ultimately create less waste.

If your answer is no – you need to develop a waste minimisation plan.

3. Recycle & repurpose: Is my waste recyclable?

Despite steps 1 and 2, you will probably have some unavoidable waste. Ideally you want to recycle or repurpose it. Both

The If your answer is no – go options require preplanning.

Event Safety back to your waste Remember, not all recycling Council’s Reopening minimisation plan. facilities can recycle all Guidelines for business events note that nontypes of waste. Find medical waste generated 5. Disposal: Is out exactly what yours during the Covid-19 pandemic there proper will accept, and do not is not considered hazardous. disposal? purchase products that fall This means recycling and composting can be The final step is to send outside of this scope. For safely done. waste to landfill. If you waste that you would like have followed all the steps to repurpose, make sure it has an intended recipient who wants so far, you should have little to it. Otherwise it risks becoming waste no waste in this category. It is your despite your best efforts. Composting responsibility to find out if your waste food and other organic waste should also will be disposed of responsibly at a be considered as repurposing, which is licensed facility, and that there are no an easy way to reduce your event waste. risks associated with this process. In If your answer is no – go back to South Africa both the waste producer your waste minimisation plan. and disposer have legal responsibility to ensure that waste is disposed of 4. Recover: Is my waste properly: so don’t cut corners and hire a recoverable? guy with a bakkie who, in all likelihood, This fourth step largely applies to will dump your waste illegally (and thus burning waste to generate energy, or undermine all your previous efforts). recovering valuable materials from it – If your answer is no – don’t do it! such as salvaging metal from computers.

Questions to ask include: Is my waste For more information about non-toxic? Can it be broken down and the Event Greening Forum, used as a raw material for something else contact Pippa Naude (e.g. computer chips)? Can it be burnt for t: +27 (0)74 369 6369 energy or for heat? Have a plan in place e: pippa@eventgreening.co.za for how this will be done, responsibly.

26 Business Events Africa August 2020

www.businesseventsafrica.com

MARKET NEWS

Valor Hospitality partners to assume management at Fancourt Valor Hospitality Partners Africa, is pleased to add to its hotel portfolio, with the signing of a management agreement with Fancourt. Valor will be taking over the reins from outgoing CEO GeorgieDavidson.

F

ancourt, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World®, consists of the Fancourt hotel and the award-winning Manor House, which together offer 133 rooms and suites.

The 600 ha Lifestyle resort offers an extensive recreational leisure facility including indoor and outdoor pools, a state-of-the-art leisure centre, tennis courts, outdoor activities as well as

an fully equipped Spa, hair salon and boutique. Expect culinary excellence from the various food and beverage offerings from bistro style to fine dining.

It is also the perfect venue for conferences, meetings and events. An easy 10-minute shuttle from George airport delivers guests to the estate, where modern conference facilities (including a banquet hall, boardrooms, meeting rooms

and breakaway options), five-star service and beautiful accommodation awaits.

In addition to its proud legacy of sporting excellence, Fancourt’s three internationally acclaimed golf courses were designed by a dynamic team spearheaded by Gary Player and the estate’s owner, Dr. Hasso Plattner. The Links, host venue of the 2003 President’s Cup, is currently the No 1-ranked golf course in South Africa. Golfers also have access to comprehensive practice facilities, a Golf Academy and a fully equipped Pro Shop.

Speaking on the announcement, Tony Romer-Lee, managing partner, Valor Hospitality Partners Africa and Middle East, said: “Valor is delighted to be joining Fancourt, South Africa's iconic golf & lifestyle resort. We can't wait for the resort to fully reopen and to work with the team to rebuild the business. With the backing of the Plattner family to continue to invest in the experiences, we are confident that Fancourt will continue to be the leading destination in the Garden Route."

Valor Hospitality recently expanded its USA portfolio world with an additional seven internationally branded IHG, Marriott and some independently owned properties. This adds to the muchanticipated opening of the first voco™ Johannesburg Rosebank, South Africa in February 2021. There are several properties in the pipeline spread across the continents where it operates.

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

August 2020 Vol 40 No 8 ADVERTISER

PAGE

EMAIL

WEBSITE

AAXO

22

aaxo@aaxo.co.za

www.aaxo.co.za

Event Greening Forum

26

info@eventgreening.co.za

www.eventgreening.co.za

EXSA

23

exsa@exsa.co.za

www.exsa.co.za

MJunxion

2

yolande@mjunxion.co.za

www.mjunxion.co.za

SAACI

24

info@saaci.org

www.saaci.org

SITE

25, insert

info@sitesouthernafrica.com

www.sitesouthernafrica.com

www.businesseventsafrica.com

Business Events Africa August 2020 27

DIRECTORY

ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN EXHIBITION ORGANISERS

46 Waterford Office Park, Waterford Drive, Fourways, Johannesburg t: +27 (0)11 465 8955 e: aaxo@aaxo.co.za Association coordinator: Molebegeng Masote e: mole@aaxo.co.za Chairperson: Projeni Pather, Exposure Marketing e: projeni@exposuremarketing.co.za Vice-chairperson: Devi PaulsenAbbott, dmg events e: devipaulsen@dmgevents.com Treasurer: Mark Anderson, Specialised Exhibitions e: marka@specialised.com Board of directors: Carol Weaving, Reed Exhibitions e: carol.weaving@reedexpoafrica.co.za Chanelle Hingston, Clarion Events Africa e: chanelle.hingston@clarionevents.com Phetogo Kubheka, Synergy Business Events e: phetogo@synergybe.co.za Suzette Scheepers, Messe Muenchen South Africa e: suzette.scheepers@mm-sa.com

Vice chairperson: Gabi Babinsky, Brandex t: +27 (0)64 655 3323 e: gabi@brandexpro.co.za

Vice-chairperson: Jaques Fouche Formative e: jaques@formative.co.za c: +27 (0)60 993 7542

Treasurer: Moses Nefale, Scan Display t: +27 (0)79 882 8616 e: moses@scandisplay.co.za

Treasurer: Glenn van Eck, Magnetic Storm e: glenn@magnetic.co.za c: +27 (0)82 800 2616

Past chairperson: Doug Rix, DK Designs t: +27 (0)82 579 7071 e: dougrix@wol.co.za Association manager: Lee-Ann Alder t: +27 (0)82 550 0349 e: info@exsa.co.za Board members Kerry-Lee Bester, Brilliant Branding t: +27 (0)72 265 6600 e: kerry@brilliant-branding.co.za Mike Mira, Efam Distributors t: +27 (0)83 445 2261 e: mike@efam.co.za Presley Mokotedi, Garona Communications t: +27 (0)81 578 4455 e: presley@garonacom.co.za Chad Botha, Inspire Furniture Rentals t: +27 (0)76 644 0271 e: info@inspirefurniture.co.za Sibusiso Mchwabe, Marketing Well t: +27 (0)83 477 5536 e: sibusiso@marketingwell.co.za Gary van der Watt, Resource Design t: +27 (0)76 339 5320 e: gary@resourcedesign.co.za INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS & CONVENTION ASSOCIATION

EVENT GREENING FORUM

ICCA African Chapter 179 Jan Smuts Ave, Parktown North, Private Bag X7000, Parklands 2121 t: +27 (0)11 447 4777 e: info@eventgreening.co.za www.eventgreening.co.za Chairperson: Greg McManus, Heritage Environmental Management Services Vice-chairperson: Morwesi Ramonyai, Borena Energy Treasurer: Justin Hawes, Scan Display Secretariat: Lynn McLeod e: lynn@eventgreening.co.za Marketing: Pippa Naudé e: pippa@eventgreening.co.za EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

Chairperson: Taubie Motlhabane, Cape Town International Convention Centre t: +27 (0)21 410 5000 e: Taubiem@cticc.co.za Deputy chairperson: Jacinta Nzioka, Kenya National Convention Bureau t: +254 722464221 e: jacinta@kncb.go.ke Secretariat: Esmaré Steinhöfel ICCA Africa Regional director c: +27 (0)84 056 5544 e: esmare.s@iccaworld.org. www.iccaworld.com/dbs/africanchapter www.iccaworld.org SOUTHERN AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE CONFERENCE INDUSTRY

Learning | Growth | collaboration EXSA OFFICE www.exsa.co.za Chairperson: Gill Gibbs, BluCube t: +27 (0)83 260 8035 e: gill@blu3.co.za

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairperson: Kim Roberts Mise-en-place Solutions e: info@mise-en-placesolutions.com c: +27 (0)82 652 2008

28 Business Events Africa August 2020

Public officer: Denise Kemp, Eastern Sun Events e: denise@esternsun.co.za c: +27 (0)82 654 9755 Chief executive officer: Glenton De Kock e: ceo@saaci.org c: +27 (0)82 575 7565 DIRECTORS EC chairperson: Andrew Stewart PeriExpo e: andrew@periexpo.co.za c: +27 (0)82 578 5987 KZN chairperson: Tracey Delport The Hospitality Experience e: tracey@thehospitality experience.co.za c: +27 (0)83 293 5190 JHB chairperson: Lorin Bowen Lorin Bowen Business Events e: lorin@lorinbowen.co.za c: + 27 (0)82 433 8687 WC acting chairperson: Angela Lorimer, Century City Conference Centre e: angela.l@ccconferencecentre.co.za t: +27 (0)21 809 1101

Networking: Wanda Fourie Eastern Sun Events e: registration@easternsun.co.za Branch coordinator: Hayley Pretorius e: ec.za@saaci.org c: +27 (0)79 507 3607 c: +27 (0)62 758 7933 JOHANNESBURG Branch chairperson: Lorin Bowen Lorin Bowen Business Events c: +27 (0)82 433 8687 e: lorin@lorinbowen.co.za Branch vice-chairperson: Michelle Bingham Sandton Convention Centre c: +27 (0)82 339 0342 e: michelle.bingham@tsogosun. com Branch treasurer: Manuela Gomes Cullinan Holding c: +27 (0)81 359 6558 e: manuela@ikapacoaches.co.za COMMITTEE: Aidan Koen, Ogada Group c: +27 (0)82 561 3188 e: aidan@ogada.co.za Brad Montgomery Ultimate Data Sciences c: +27 (0)72 800 5857 e: brad@ultimatedata.co.za Brendan Vogt Guvon Hotels & Spas c: +27 (0)83 709 0480 e: brendan@guvon.co.za

Tshwane chairperson: Leon Pheiffer EPH Productions e: leon@ephproductions.co.za c: + 27 (0)82 924 9046

Carmen Rudd Synergy Business Events c: +27 (0)82 707 3977 e: carmen@synergybe.co.za

Co-opted youth: Minister Kganyago CSIR e: MKganyago@csir.co.za c: +27 (0)79 513 8708

Chad Botha, Inspire Furniture Rentals c: +27 (0)87 470 0670 e: chad@inspirefurniture.co.za

Venue rep: Michelle Bingham Sandton Convention Centre e: Michelle.Bingham@tsogosun.com c: +27 (0)82 339 0342

John Arvanitakis Chatr’ Experiences c: +27 (0)83 415 2774 e: john@chatr.co.za

EASTERN CAPE Branch chairperson: Andrew Stewart, PeriExpo e: andrew@periexpo.co.za c: +27 (0)82 578 5987 Branch vice-chairperson: David Limbert, Magnetic Storm e: david@magnetic.co.za c: +27 (0)82 9064 198 Branch treasurer: Alistair Stead, Scan Display e: alastair@scandisplay.africa c: +27 (0)73 236 6618

Minister Kganyago, CSIR c: +27 (0)79 513 8708 e: mkganyago@csir.co.za Rendani Khorommbi Joburg Tourism c: +27 (0)82 773 2999 e: rendanik@joburgtourism.com Branch coordinator: Angelique Smith c: +27 (0)60 970 7653 e: Jhb.za@saaci.org TSHWANE

COMMITTEE: Learning: Caroline Morgan EXBO e: caro@exbo.co.za c: +27 (0)82 553 6185

Branch chairperson: Leon Pheiffer EPH & Monte de Dios e: leon@ephproductions.co.za; e: leon@montededios.co.za c: +27 (0)82 924 9046

Communication: Gill Dickie Bidvest Car Rental e: gilld@bidvestcarrental.co.za c: +27 (0)79 527 7619

Branch vice-chairperson: Corné Engelbrecht, Savetcon e: corne@savetcon.co.za c: +27 (0)82 925 9241

Networking: Melissa Palmer B&E Conference Centre e: melissa@becbc.co.za c: +27 (0)82 437 7600

Branch treasurer: Refilwe Nchebisang, CSIR ICC e: rnchebisang@csir.co.za c: +27 (0)12 841 3770

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DIRECTORY COMMITTEE: Melanie Pretorius, At Zone Hospitality Consulting e: melanie.pretorius@mweb.co.za c: +27 (0)82 410 1202 Herkie du Preez, Event Wizards e: herkie@eventwizards.co.za c: +27 (0)82 839 3489 Branch coordinator: Heather Heskes, SAACI e: tsh.za@saaci.org c: +27 (0)76 321 6111 KWAZULU-NATAL Branch chairperson: Irene Vallihu, Durban International Convention Centre e: irenev@icc.co.za c: +27 (0)79 692 4604 Branch vice-chairperson: Gill Slaughter, Turners Conferences e: gills@turnersconferences.co.za c: +27 (0)31 368 8000 Branch treasurer: Sibusiso Mncwabe, Marketing Well e: sibusiso@marketingwell.co.za c: +27 (0)83 477 5536 COMMITTEE: Tracey Delport The Hospitality Experience e: tracey@thehospitality experience.co.za c:+27 (0)83 293 5190 Tarannum Banatwalla Jellyfish Catering & Event Management e: tarannum@jellyfishcatering.co.za c: +27 (0)83 254 9462

t: +27 (0)21 487 8600 COMMITTEE: Jaques Fouche, Formative e: jaques@formative.co.za c: +27 (0)60 993 7542 Esmare Steinhofel, ICCA e: esmare.s@iccaworld.org c: +27 (0)84 056 5544 Esti Venske, CPUT e: venskee@cput.ac.z t: +27 (0)21 460 3518 Cindy Buser, Mirchee e: cindy@mirchee.co.za c: +27 (0)21 705 7338 Zimkitha Bavuma, CPUT e: zim@live.co.za Zandri Swartz Century City Convention Centre e: zandri.s@ccconferencecentre.co.za c: +27 (0)21 204 8000 Andrew Gibson, Magnetic Storm e: andrew@magnetic.co.za t: 0860 111 625 Adele Martiz, CTICC e: adele@cticc.co.za t: +27 (0)21 410 5000 Ansu Colditz, XL Millennium e: ansuc@millenniumtravel.co.za c: +27 (0)82 457 8071 Alex Wrottesley, Into Africa e: alex@intoafrica.co.za t: +27 (0)21 430 2060 Branch coordinator: Lara van Zyl e: wc.za@saaci.org c: +27 (0)82 223 4684

Kim Jackson Greyville Convention Centre e: kimj@goldcircle.co.za c: +27 (0)82 378 2264

SOCIETY FOR INCENTIVE TRAVEL EXCELLENCE

Mabuyi Mosia, Ikhono Communications e: mabuyi@ikhono.co.za c: +27 (0)71 117 7509 Denver Manickum I-cube Alternative Advertising e: denver@icube.co.za c: +27 (0)83 482 8525 Kavitha Dhawnath, Gearhouse SA e: kavitha.dhawnath@ gearhouse.co.za c: +27 (0)83 607 2006 Wiseman Mnguni, Mboniseni Events and Project Management) e: mboniseni.events@gmail.com c: +27 (0)78 220 2162 Sandile Dlamini, Anzomode e: sandile@anzomode.co.za c: +27 (0)79 104 5510 Branch coordinator: Kerry Potgieter c: +27 (0)84 777 3452 e: kzn.za@saaci.org WESTERN CAPE Acting branch chairperson: Angela Lorimer Century City Conference Centre e: angela.l@ccconferencecentre.co.za t: +27 (0)21 809 1101 Branch treasurer: Thiru Naidoo Wesgro e: thiru@wesgro.co.za

www.businesseventsafrica.com

President: Tes Proos e: tes@crystalevents.co.za c: +27 (0) 84 682 7676 International board member: Daryl Keywood e: daryl@walthers.co.za c: +27 (0)82 904 4967 Treasurer: Peter-John Mitrovich e: peter-john.mitrovich@ grosvenortours.com c: +27 (0)82 318 1889 Board member at large: Rick Taylor East Africa (Rwanda): Chris Munyao North Africa: George Fawzi North Africa support: Brad Glen Young Leadership: Clinton Els Secretariat & Events: Gauteng: Clare Neall c: +27 76 898 0420 e: clare@eventstuff.co.za Western Cape: Mariaan Burger e: info@sitesouthernafrica.com c: +27 (0)82 557 8041

OTHER ASSOCIATIONS OF INTEREST ABTA – African Business Travel Association Box 2594, Pinegowrie, 2123 t: +27 (0)11 888 8178 c: +27 (0)83 679 2110 e: monique@abta.co.za www.abta.co.za Founder: Monique Swart ASATA – Association of Southern African Travel Agents PO Box 650539, Benmore, 2010 t: +27 (0)11 293 0560/61 e: barbara@asata.co.za e: general@asata.co.za Office manager: Barbara Viljoen Council of Event Professionals Africa M16 Ticketpro Dome Cnr. Northumberland & Olievenhout Roads, Northriding Executive Director: Kevan Jones kevan@sacia.org.za t: +27 (0)11 0836418 c: +27 (0)82 555 5556 Chairperson: Glenn van Eck Magnetic Storm e: glenn@magnetic.co.za c: +27 (0)82 800 2616 FEDHASA National Office – Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa PO Box 3853, The Reeds, 0157 t: +27 (0)12 771 5568 c: + 27 (0)82 552 9862 e: ceo@fedhasa.co.za www.fedhasa.co.za Chief executive: Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa PSASA – Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa t: +27 (0)11 462 9465 c: +27 (0)83 458 6114 e: admin@psasouthernafrica.co.za www.psasouthernafrica.co.za SABOA – Southern African Bus Operators Association Postnet Suite 393, Private Bag X033, Rivonia 2128 t: +27 (0)11 511 7641 e: saboa@saboa.co.za www.saboa.co.za SACIA – Southern African Communications Industries Association M16 Ticketpro Dome Cnr. Northumberland & Olievenhout Roads, Northriding t: +27 (0)11 083 6418 c: +27 (0)82 555 5556 e: kevan@sacia.org.za Executive director: Kevan Jones

SATI – South African Translators’ Institute Executive director: Marion Boers t: +27 (0)11 803 2681 e: office@translators.org.za www.translators.org.za SATSA – Southern Africa Tourism Services Association Box 900, Ferndale 2160 t: +27 (0)11 886 9996 e: pa@satsa.co.za | www.satsa.com SKAL International South Africa Secretary: Anne Lamb t: +27 (0)21 434 7023 c: +27 (0)82 708 1836 e: anne@yebo.co.za www.skalsouthafrica.org STA – Sandton Tourism Association t: +27 (0)83 558 5445 e: secretariat@sandtontourism.com www.sandtontourism.com TBCSA – Tourism Business Council of South Africa Box 11655, Centurion 0046 t: +27 (0)12 664 0120 e: comms@tbcsa.travel www.tbcsa.travel | www.tomsa.co.za Member relations manager: Boitumelo Moleleki TGCSA – Tourism Grading Council of South Africa Private Bag X10012, Sandton 2146 t: +27 (0)11 895 3000 f: +27 (0)11 895 3001 e: enquiries@tourismgrading.co.za TINSA – Interpreters/Translators Network of Southern Africa e: info@interpreter.org.za t/f: +27 (0)11 485 2511 c: +27 (0)83 249 0010 www.interpreter.org.za TPSA – Technical Production Services Association M16 Ticketpro Dome Cnr. Northumberland & Olievenhout Roads, Northriding t: +27 (0)11 083 6418 c: +27 (0)82 555 5556 e: kevan@sacia.org.za www.tpsa.co.za Executive director: Kevan Jones TTA – Tshwane Tourism Association Box 395, Pretoria 0001 t: +27 (0)12 841 4212 e: secretary@tshwanetourism.com www.tshwanetourism.com Chairperson: Bronwen Cadle de Ponte Secretary: Sithembile Nzimande Membership coordinator: Liz Oosthuysen e: membership@tshwanetourism.com

Business Events Africa August 2020 29

THE LAST WORD

What the travel trends of yesterday mean for the future of travel Travel is more accessible to the citizens of the world than ever before. We are travelling more, and younger and younger generations are now setting out to see the world and there is an ever-increasing desire by travellers to venture further and further off the beaten track to explore new destinations and experiences. By Guy Stehlik, chief executive officer of BON Hotels

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uch of this accessibility can be attributed to technology, as the internet created a space for people to get information outside of a travel agency. Travel research became so much easier, showing armchair explorers that much of the world is within an arm’s reach.

On the other hand, this internet accessibility has created a far more competitive market on so many levels, not only on price, but via review platforms or social media.

Costs have also become more competitive over the years as more and more booking platforms have launched and vied for a piece of the pie. This has led to the rise of budget airlines and cheaper getaway offerings as many people, especially young travellers, seek to see the world on a shoestring budget. Which is not to say that luxury travel has been left behind, as those with more flexible purse strings seek out the ultimate travel experiences.

Notably, tourism in Africa has grown significantly and has seen a consistent upwards trajectory in recent years, especially as businesses have expanded into Africa. In fact, according to the Jumia 2019 Hospitality Report Africa,

the continent was the second-fastestgrowing tourism region in 2018 with around 67 million international tourist arrivals. Africa followed only Asia- Pacific.

Other trends of recent years include the rise of experiential tourism, the decline in the popularity of animal tourism, increased accessibility for disabled travellers and increased awareness of sustainability in the tourism sector as travellers have become more mindful of protecting all destinations.

There’s no denying that the impact of Covid-19 has provided a major setback for the African tourism sector. But the growth we have achieved is not gone for good. Our collective accomplishments over the years have not disappeared. This is a hurdle, which we will overcome. There will be changes and challenges, but there is still much room for growth in Africa.

As companies have become accustomed to working remotely and conducting business in the virtual realm, there may well be a drop in the popularity of business travel. However, in the midmarket upscale accommodation sector, business travel has rapidly expanded. We are going to see an unprecedented rise of ‘bleisure’ travel – where business travellers tack on extra days of leave and use

30 Business Events Africa August 2020

weekends to fully explore a destination they are visiting for business purposes.

Where business travel does take place, we will likely see a rise in the leisure side of ‘bleisure’ as people seek to make the most of travel experiences beyond lockdown.

As tourists begin to step out into the world, more out of their comfort zone than ever before and having to adjust to a post-lockdown life again, accommodation establishments will need to cater to a new set of needs. People will want reassurance regarding hygiene and safety protocols, they will feel comfortable with fewer but more meaningful personal interactions, and they will want more affordable offerings as global economies recover.

“There’s no denying that the impact of Covid-19 has provided a major setback for the African tourism sector.”

Going forward, partnerships will be key to success. Hotel owners have seen some very tough times, but they don’t have to tackle the ‘new normal’ alone. By partnering with hotel management groups, hotel owners will be better positioned to survive the short-term downturn and then make the most of the post-Covid travel boom.

Hotel management groups operating locally are best placed to tackle destinationspecific challenges, as they have a deeper understanding of local laws, culture, language and community. With teams on-the-ground, you also get a more personal experience and ensure money goes into the local economy and towards the employment of local people.

Nobody was prepared for the effects of Covid-19 on the tourism industry, but we can be prepared for the coming resurgence of travel. Good choices now can help tourism businesses prepare for survival, and ultimately prosperity. www.businesseventsafrica.com

A SITE Africa White Paper A STRATEGIC VISION FOR BUSINESS EVENT TRAVEL AND TOURISM: COVID-19 PROTOCOLS AND THE REOPENING OF BORDERS AND SKIES IN AFRICA COMPILED BY: SOCIETY OF INCENTIVE TRAVEL EXCELLENCE (SITE) CHAPTER: AFRICA In partnership with participants to the SITEÂ AFRICA SUMMIT, held on 11 June 2020 Date published: 31 July 2020

WHITE PAPER

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 GLOSSARY i. ABBREVIATIONS ii. DEFINITION OF TERMS

5

THE FORMULATION PROCESS AND PURPOSE

6 INTRODUCTION 7 BACKGROUND 8

STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS

8 FOCUS AREA 1: Setting out the regulatory context for reopening business event travel and tourism in the Covid-19 environment in Africa

i.

The journey of reopening business events tourism

ii.

Ensure the development of a crisis/emergency management plan

iii. Relying on strong and established relationships

iv. Focus on regional markets, partnerships and collaboration to grow the MICE sector

11 FOCUS AREA 2: Setting out a collaborative framework for the reopening of continental borders for business events travel and tourism and its impact on the tourism supply chain

i.

Ensure greater cooperation and collaboration

ii.

Careful planning and coordination of the sector

iii. Strong leadership from the various governments

13 FOCUS AREA 3: Setting out a strategic framework for reopening of air travel and creation of new air routes within the continent

i. Reopening of air travel within Africa to enable regional collaboration and promote business events tourism

ii.

Strategic framework for the creation of new air routes within the continent

15 CONCLUSION 16 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 17 ANNEXURES

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Annexure 1:

List of key industry stakeholder participants (SITE Africa Summit)

Annexure 2:

South Africa events industry health and safety protocols (on request)

Annexure 3:

BARSA health safety protocols (on request)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Covid-19 pandemic and its widespread impacts have prompted most sectors to consider policies that will help them restrain, recover and reset their activities. One of such sectors is the Business Event Travel and Tourism in Africa (BETTA) sector.

The BETTA sector holds the potential to stimulate economic activity through greater collaboration, inclusion and solidarity across Africa. A case may be made for an appropriate set of policy development to be identified and implemented with the focus on safely reopening and encouraging intra-African Business Event Travel and Tourism.

This Draft Tourism White Paper is a consultation document setting out preliminary viewpoints and proposals of a policy position for the strategic vision to reopen the borders and skies in Africa, cognisant of Covid-19 Protocols, for Business Event Travel and Tourism in Africa. It is the product of extensive consultation with a range of key stakeholders and thought leaders setting the scene for African governments to benefit from access to industry proposals, thinking and feedback. It is proposed that once this draft has been through rigorous debate via various structured consultation platforms, the emerging policies may lead to a formal White Paper publication. For this reason, proposals from affected constituencies are invited.

This Draft Tourism White Paper proposes the following strategic vision as a working definition: The Business Event Travel and Tourism sector is committed to Africa’s socio-economic development based on the principles of safe and sustainable economic activity that stimulates responsible growth through collaboration.

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WHITE PAPER

GLOSSARY i) ABBREVIATIONS ADBG

African Development Bank Group

AfCFTA

African Continental Free Trade Area

ATB

African Tourism Board

AU

African Union

BARSA Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa BETTA Business Events Travel and Tourism in Africa Covid-19

Corona Virus Disease 2019

CPUT Cape Peninsula University of Technology ESC

Event Safety Council

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

IATA International Air Transport Association MICE Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions SITE Society for Incentive Travel Excellence SAATM Single African Air Transport Market UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organisation WEF

World Economic Forum

WTTC World Travel and Tourism Council

ii) DEFINITION OF TERMS African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): The AfCFTA was officially launched at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) in Niamey, Niger on July 7, 2019.

The agreement is signed by all of Africa’s 54 countries and to date, ratified by 27 countries.

The agreement will bring opportunities and benefits for all nations across the continent.

African Union (AU) The African Union (AU) is a continental organisation consisting of 54 member states comprising the countries of the African continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963 – 1999).

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Hybrid Events Hybrid Events refer to a combination of live and virtual events. With the fast-paced development of virtual and internet technology, it is possible to host an event for a number of delegates physically attending within a venue, whilst the majority of delegates attend virtually from outside destinations on a local, regional or global scale. The advantage of Hybrid meetings and events include lower cost implications for delegates due to savings on flights and the potential to increase attendee numbers. Events can include meetings, exhibitions and concerts, amongst others.

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Single African Air Travel Market (SAATM) The African Union initiated the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) as a flagship project for their Agenda 2063. The objective is to create a single, unified air transport market, to liberalise civil aviation and advance the continent’s economic development. The SAATM will play a major role in connecting Africa, promoting its social economic and political integration and boosting intraAfrica trade and tourism as a result. The SAATM was created to expedite the full implementation of the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision.

Yamoussoukro Decision The Yamoussoukro Decision (1999), which entered into force in 2000 evolved from the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1988. It remains the single most important air transport reform policy initiative by African Governments to date.

It was adopted out of the recognition that the restrictive and protectionist intra-African regulatory regime based primarily on Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) hampered the expansion and improvement of air transport on the continent.

The Yamoussoukro Decision calls for, among others: • F ull liberalisation of intra-African air transport services in terms of access, capacity, frequency, and tariffs; • F ree exercise of first, second, third, fourth and fifth freedom rights for passenger and freight air services by eligible airlines (These rights, granted by most international air service agreements, enable, among others, non-national carriers to land in a state and take on traffic coming from or destined for a third state); • Liberalised tariffs and fair competition; and • C ompliance with established ICAO safety standards and recommended practices.

Zonal Systems (specifically relating to Covid-19 infections) Zonal Systems refer to the practice of identifying low-risk areas, isolating those as much as possible and widening the circle as neighbouring zones move into acceptable levels or indeed, the opposite, should infections increase in an identified low-risk zone. This system can apply to neighbourhoods, regions and countries.

THE FORMULATION PROCESS AND PURPOSE On 11 June 2020, the Africa chapter of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) hosted a Summit including various African and international leaders within the tourism and travel sector to discuss opportunities for: 1. D eveloping protocols to enable earlier opening of business tourism and events across the continent; 2. E xploring opportunities to improve airlift across the continent in the face of economic decline and airlines possibly shutting down; and 3. D iscussing potential for Intra-African collaboration to enable all of the above which could assist with creating new and much needed economic development across borders.

The SITE Africa Summit sparked healthy discussions and debates amongst industry leaders. As a result, it motivated SITE Africa to transcribe and summarise the recorded discussions to share with leadership across the continent. This exercise was gracefully undertaken in partnership with a team from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

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WHITE PAPER

INTRODUCTION Tourism in Africa is a powerful vehicle for economic growth and job creation. However, Africa’s tourism industry has been hard-hit by the emergence of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic that broke out in Wuhan, China in November 2019. While this is not the first time that a major event has impacted the industry, the current crisis highlights the importance of resilience and adaptability.

In response to the crisis, most African governments placed their countries under lockdowns to reduce the spread of the virus, resulting in the standstill or closure of many tourism businesses.

As a result, Africa’s business event travel and tourism experienced profound disruptions and adverse impacts which are consistent with the global trajectory of the pandemic’s effects.

While the definite impact of the pandemic remains largely undetermined, and will probably become clearer only after the identification of critical variables, including the duration of the pandemic and its intensity, early projections by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggested that the travel bans and restrictions would cost the global tourism industry USD200 billion, excluding a further USD113 billion in loss of revenue to the aviation industry.

Consequently, stakeholders within the Business Events Travel and Tourism sector across the continent and the globe, have considered both the need and the subsequent requirements to reopen business event travel and tourism in the Covid-19 milieu.

Spearheaded by the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) Africa Chapter, consensus was reached among 26 key role players from Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe on 11 June 2020 to develop and publish a strategic vision related to Covid-19 protocols and the reopening of borders and skies in Africa for Business Event Travel and Tourism. See Annexure 1 for list of participants). In this context, it was noted that the Business Event Tourism industry was a self-regulating industry,

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which already has adequate health and safety protocols in place, ready for implementation, and that the regulations specific to the Covid-19 pandemic will constitute an additional regulatory requirement to an already naturally regulated sector.

However, it was highlighted that various elements and components of the industry have been largely uncoordinated across the continent, which has resulted in fragmented strategies limiting the ability of the continent to harness the largesse and diversity of its business event tourism offerings.

Therefore, the purpose of this Draft White Paper is to stimulate new thinking, collaboration and deliberation around the business event travel and tourism issues that face the African region. The Draft White Paper proposes policy foundations and a strategy for the continent to become a leading global business events travel and tourism destination in three main Focus Areas by setting out: • T he regulatory context for reopening business event tourism in the Covid-19 environment; • A collaborative framework for the reopening of air travel and new air routes within the continent; and • A strategic framework for the reopening of continental borders for travel and tourism and its impact on the tourism supply chain.

Focus is firmly placed on finding ways for the continent to collaborate in the process of opening up the airspace and air routes across the continent.

As such, there is a strong recommendation for governments to agree on modalities for this to happen in order to recuperate the business event travel and tourism industry that is currently under

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tremendous pressure. A considerable number of governments across the continent (34 AU states have already signed the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) in 2018, highlighting the need for the commencement of new routes in order to promote intra-Africa business tourism.

The business event travel and tourism industry require clarity from African governments, the African Union (AU) and the World Tourism

Organisation (UNWTO) on issues of business tourism accessibility at a regional level as it is currently a major concern and impediment to economic growth in Africa: In as much as there are opportunities for business tourism growth and expansion regionally, the lack of open access agreements between African countries severely restricts the potential for sustainable economic advancements.

BACKGROUND Africa’s tourism industry has reportedly experienced exponential growth in recent years, with the industry contributing about 8.5% ($194.2bn) to the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018.

In addition, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) also reported that Africa remains the second fastest growing tourism region with an average growth rate of 7.1%, with several millions of jobs being supported by this sector. These statistics underpin the fact that tourism has the potential to provide significant socio-economic benefits to Africa. However, in the closing days of 2019, and the early part of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic rapidly began to spread globally, including to Africa, resulting in mass industry shutdowns and supply chain disruptions. The pandemic has had an irrefutable impact on almost all sectors and activities across the globe. In the same light, the business event tourism and travel industry has been severely affected, with both global and regional travel and tourism almost grinding to a standstill.

In a novel approach, nations are proactively engaging in initiatives aimed at prevention, detection and curing the infected in order to ‘flatten the curve’ of Covid-19 infections and at the same time ensuring that the tourism economies remain resilient and viable. The challenges are immense, especially for individual governments, and success is significantly dependant on the ability to work collaboratively. While many countries globally continue to enforce travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some governments are beginning to ease travel restrictions, by opening the borders and skies for air travel in an effort to

stimulate business tourism and mitigate further severe economic losses. To effectively achieve this during the pandemic, the implementation of safety protocols is critical and thus it has necessitated the development of industry regulatory frameworks and strategies for health and safety protocols such as intensified screening measures at ports of entries. Further establishing and enforcing effective regulatory protocols collectively as an African region, will facilitate the safe and sustainable reopening of the business tourism sector.

Utilising the insights and viewpoints of the key business event travel and tourism stakeholders (see Annexure 1), this Draft White Paper highlights the industry readiness to safely reopen for business while safeguarding economies and livelihoods. The key business event travel and tourism stakeholders putting forward this White Paper, are confident that in spite of Covid-19, due to the self-regulatory nature of the industry, there are already Covid-19 associated protocols in place ensuring that the sector is capable and well prepared to reopen for business. To this point for example, in South Africa the Event Safety Council (ESC) has already established the Reopening Guidelines for the Event Industry in South Africa (see Annexure 2). However, these existing protocols highlight the importance of collaboration between African countries, careful planning and coordination of the sector, and strong leadership from the various governments.

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WHITE PAPER

STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS

FOCUS AREA 1: Setting out the regulatory context for reopening business event travel and tourism in the Covid-19 environment in Africa i) The journey of reopening business events tourism The African continent is urged to find ways to start trading sooner rather than later, in order to stop job losses and alleviate unemployment and poverty. The business event travel and tourism sector has been proactive in making sure that industry-specific public health and safety protocol standards are developed and implemented in compliance with official governing bodies providing the stamp of approval. Continental authorities are therefore called upon to benefit from the fact that the continent reacted early and swiftly in instituting control measures at the outbreak of the pandemic, to further develop resilience strategies that will enable the sector restart business.

Adaptations to the new normal are critical for the continent to maximise its business event travel sector.

Such adaptations require the element of trust between authorities on the continent. The experts highlighted that in its current form, there is a lack of trust and uniformity in the way governments are implementing the rules, and people are therefore distrustful of the way that the rules are applied.

It is therefore critical that governments on the continent develop clear guidelines and protocols, but even more importantly, that these have to be communicated in an accurate and unbiased manner.

People should also be encouraged to obtain their information from reliable and reputable sources.

Additionally, the business event tourism sector is also encouraged to use the key stakeholders and thought leaders in the industry to start ‘creating trust’ in the clients, in the corporates, and in the

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business. While the industry is self-regulating, and currently putting great safety measures and protocols in place, there is need for a consistent effort in communicating the process aggressively and consistently. At a time where there is so much global and continental uncertainty due to the Covid-19 dynamic, silence and non-communication will further instil fear and uncertainty in an already fragile business event tourism and travel industry.

In addition, the sector needs to create an environment of capacity building and strengthening.

With the advent of the pandemic, new opportunities have arisen in the area of the digital economy.

Conferences and meetings have migrated to online platforms. Across the continent, while countries have been adopting and adapting to digital platforms, there has been limited collaboration in terms of how such platforms are standardised, and how they are leveraged in terms implementation across country borders. Africa

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therefore needs to push for greater and wider adoption and implementation of such platforms and Hybrid event integration. It is important to highlight the gradual but conscious expansion of conferencing facilities to include virtual conferences as an alternative in times of crisis such as current Covid-19 pandemic. Africa therefore should begin by creating structure and organisational policies that allow the continent to collaborate on such issues that require new thinking and innovation.

ii) Ensure the development of a crisis/ emergency management plan A crisis or emergency management plan is not exclusive to pandemics. It is a necessary requirement for any situation requiring an outof-the-ordinary response in the dynamic tourism sector, from a natural disaster to a terrorist event to a civil uprising. As such, the business event travel and tourism industry is well versed in crisis or emergency management plans with extremely competent practitioners making the integration of additional Covid-19 safety protocols to existing knowledge around health, safety and emergency management possible.

Public health and safety protocols should be standardised and National Tourism Boards across Africa need to be involved in placing emphasis on these processes by, for instance, inspections, monitoring and standardisation of Covid-19 and related safety protocols.

or determined based on the ability of the zone to demonstrate their preparedness. These proactive methods indicate that the whole of the business events and tourism industry is working together, instead of simply pursuing a sectoral response strategy. By adopting this approach, it is going to be easier to develop and adopt public health and safety compliance protocols. While some border closures (and) lockdown restrictions continue in some areas, in others, proper safety and health protocols are already drafted and ready for implementation once the decisions to start reopening the sector are issued.

iii) Relying on strong and established relationships In tight-knit industries like the business event travel and tourism industry, the importance of building networks cannot be overemphasised. Especially in difficult and uncertain times such as that created

Covid-19 provides an avenue for heightened emphasis on duty of care and establishing robust human capital management strategies.

A tremendous amount of discipline and the development of a framework with a holistic approach to human capital management becomes a mutual responsibility. The institution of practical solutions in relation to how people could work together and how such collaborations will be communicated, implemented and monitored is critical.

It is reiterated that, as a sector that is largely selfregulatory, the development of Covid-19 specific protocols should in earnest be seamless as they will be an addendum to existing protocols and the integration of the compliance will be easily implementable. More established countries within the industry would need to guide others in the establishment of the Covid-19 Zonal System, opposed to the country system of identification of hotspots. Resilient zones could then be established

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by the Covid-19 pandemic, the experts contributing viewpoints to this paper indicated the need for industry partners to build on their already existing strong relationships by establishing more resilient networks through collaboration. Accordingly, within the African context, and particularly within the business events and tourism environments, the need to reach out and to lean on strong, existing and trusted relationships is critical.

Governments and industry partners are urged to establish platforms that create synergies, and give smaller players within the industry support during these uncertain times. The budgets required for furloughs during a crisis such as Covid-19 pales in comparison to amounts that some governments spend on military equipment.

There is a clear indication that small suppliers related to the sector could easily continue to be supported by government initiatives, for example, by being released from certain agreements or given payment holidays in certain circumstances. African governments are urged to consider extensions of such support packages while the industry continues preparations for reopening under extremely trying circumstances with limited financial support from governments. Tourism is often the hidden giant of continental economic growth as many aspects of the industry are difficult to define making the economic impact of the sector difficult to measure.

Business events and tourism associations should be given platforms through which they can come

together and create synergies that can be leveraged on in attracting and negotiating with global partners in relation to messaging and communication strategies. The focus should be on communicating clearly and collectively in unison the strategies that are being developed in preparation for the reopening of the sector in Africa, for Africa.

iv) Focus on regional markets, partnerships and collaboration to grow the MICE sector Covid-19 accelerated the need to have systems in place and adapt to changes in the business event tourism environment. Africa currently attracts approximately 2% of the global MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry.

This presents the continent with a substantial opportunity to utilise its existing assets to take advantage and attract more of the global MICE industry events to the continent. For this to materialise, the continent needs to adopt a proactive approach in collectively crafting its response strategy. The protocols and systems are critical to surviving this disruption. At the same time the industry needs to create trust and engender a high-level of comfort for travellers and clients. Business events are considered as collaboration generators, and the current Covid-19 environment has made it possible and necessitated the sharing of ideas on various online platforms. Furthermore, the slow reopening of the sector from online, to hybrid, to face-to-face will generate more opportunities for collaboration and networking opportunities amongst the industries that business events bring together, resulting in economic advancements for the continent.

Governments on the continent are further encouraged in the short-term to develop policies that will allow for the sector to promote both domestic and intra-Africa trade.

Associations should assist governments on the continent to prepare for the reopening because about 80% of all global MICE sector events come from associations.

By working together with associations, governments will be tapping into their local associations’ membership base. Allowing associations to meet and engage across Africa will create a ripple effect of more robust health and safety protocols across a variety of sectors via association meetings for sector specific improvements and implementation.

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FOCUS AREA 2: Setting out a collaborative framework for the reopening of continental borders for business events travel and tourism and its impact on the tourism supply chain. i) Ensure greater cooperation and collaboration Regional integration and cooperation is vital for the development of Africa in all sectors. According to the African Development Bank Group, countries on the continent, in order to support and promote intra-African trade require the creation of larger and more attractive markets which would facilitate linkages with the smaller landlocked countries including those in fragile situations to their international counterparts. These linkages will facilitate their participation and beneficiation from the increasingly connected global marketplace.

The continent’s growing population, especially the middle class and youth, provides a potential target market for these goods and services. The success of this rests on availability of infrastructure,

appropriate skills, policies and leadership that advocate for better opportunities for all.

The key tourism stakeholders note the importance of African countries to work in a more integrated way. This can be ensured by carefully adjusting the policies that enhance economic growth among countries. The World Economic Forum (WEF) stresses the need for African countries to work together in different ways such as efforts to address trade obstacles as well as promotion of peace and stability. According to the African Tourism Board (ATB), integration among African countries would enable the sector to operate in a better way whereby African governments come together as a block and assess the trends, and impact of the pandemic and develop their own collective recovery models that will then interpret the recovery emergencies that will then form the base-pillars of mitigating the economy impact of the pandemic. One area of collaboration should see countries working together with their neighbours to determine whether they arrive at workable solutions or protocols which could facilitate inter-regional travel and inter-destination travel. According to the African Development Bank, a borderless Africa is a foundation for viable continental trade

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conditions, aimed at accelerating growth and allowing the continent to become more competitive in global trade value chains. This would allow tourism sectors within the continent to develop across borders, thereby creating economies of scale for potential investors as they mostly favour those markets which are integrated. The agenda towards an integrated approach to reopening rests on governments and policymakers’ readiness and willingness, as collaboration on this front requires a willingness from all stakeholders, governments, and policymakers in driving an agenda from a visa on-arrival to a free visa regional block.

It is quite unfortunate that there is lack of integration among African countries which limit the opportunities which could be enjoyed when countries come together. Africa has the lowest percentage of intra-regional trade in the world, which shows opportunities exist to maximise on the benefits derived from continental integration. The current Covid-19 pandemic thus presents an opportunity to reflect on what can be done by countries in Africa to ensure that there is regional tourism growth.

ii) C areful planning and coordination of the sector Government involvement in business events and tourism matters through regulation, providing guidance and coordinating how the sector operates remains critical. This is because the state is mandated to serve the interests of the public and ensure that there is equitable development in the country. Effective coordination of the tourism industry is best achieved when there is mutual cooperation by all stakeholders.

During the Covid-19 period, the sector can gradually and safely phase-in reopening when stakeholders work with government, and there is commitment from industry to ensure that this happens. Here, industry’s effort will be focused on preparing tourism safety protocols which could be implemented to ensure public health and safety standards are adhered to. While the business events and tourism sectors are eager to open up the borders, the industry is committed, ready and capable to ensure all the official protocols are in place to safeguard against any possible Covid-19 infections.

One way to mitigate any public health related concerns is by gradually phasing-in the sector, beginning with domestic tourism and gradually opening cross border continental business events

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in demonstration of the sector’s readiness for international business event travel and tourism.

Coordination among countries especially on how the business events and tourism sector is reopened is critical. Current evidence suggests that governments on the continent are fragmented in their approach and thereby missing out on a number of opportunities that they could harness by adopting a coordinated strategy. Governments are encouraged to adopt bilateral agreements ensuring that countries work on a well-coordinated approach to business events and tourism sector growth and expansion. People travel through different countries, but the lack of connectivity is causing the continent to sacrifice the vast socioeconomic benefits and growth opportunities that tourism may bring to the country. The continent’s tourism sector is perhaps the sector with the most potential to grow globally and can be sustainably increased when there is effective coordination and deliberation across regional destinations.

iii) S trong leadership from the various governments One of the best understood phenomena in the world of business is that of leadership, strong leaders have vision and the ability to influence others to move into unchartered territory. Many African leaders are currently in a fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and at the same time trying to mitigate the socio-economic and public health impact of this on citizenry. Leadership in the current scenario requires both industry partners and governments to demonstrate an understanding and desire to revive the business events and tourism sectors to become sustainable again. A coordinated approach between all stakeholders and the governments needs to be pursued which is currently looking very uneven from a continental perspective. Such planning initiatives could include policy initiatives on how collaborations, shared value propositions and closer alliances between countries on the continent will be managed going forward.

Strong leadership in policy decisions would see the business events and tourism sectors reopening and operating again, under safe and sustainable conditions.

This involves leadership commitment to ensure that countries work together, limiting barriers that could restrict travel and tourism such as considering a visa-free approach, among other strategies.

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FOCUS AREA 3: Setting out a strategic framework for reopening of air travel and creation of new air routes within the continent i) Reopening of air travel within Africa to enable regional collaboration and promote business events tourism According to the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), Africa is home to over 1.2Â billion people with a huge geographical spread that is largely land-locked. Given the lack of robust alternative infrastructure across the continent (road, rail, water), aviation is the most effective way to get around the continent.

After Covid-19 caused most African governments to institute airspace closures and implemented travel restrictions. These initiatives had an adverse impact across many sectors of the tourism industry in the first half of 2020. As such, African governments should view public health as a key component of a resilient aviation transportation system, much like safety and security. Because air travel remains essential in any plans to reopen the business events and tourism sector, it is critical to adopt protocols that protect the health and safety of crew members, ground staff and passengers while ensuring that flight operations can continue.

As in the case of safety and security where stakeholders do not compete, expectations are that the aviation industry will be encouraged to take similar steps to implement guidance on public health risk mitigations, particularly in relation to Covid-19 safety protocols. For instance, governments could collaborate on measures around the testing of incoming and outgoing travellers, a track and trace programme that is secured against privacy and anonymised, and provision of proof of medical cover from travellers when travelling between countries on the continent.

The framework for implementing public health measures in the aviation sector to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission during travel in the air transportation system should focus on the fundamentals of safety and security, promotion of public health within the air transportation system, and recognise aviation as a driver of economic recovery. To achieve this, the protocols must consider education and communication across the entire stakeholder spectrum including both passengers and aviation employees. (See Annexure 3: BARSA health safety protocols).

Aviation operations encompass a wide variety of business models, and as such where possible, collaboration should stipulate where public health measures need to be flexible to ensure that the range of airline and airport operational strategies remain viable and support economic recovery, and

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that the competitive structure of the industry is preserved and possibly expanded. Public health measures must therefore be consistent with obligations under international law and should not unnecessarily or unfairly restrict market access for international transportation. Emphasis must be placed on the strategic focus on ensuring that collaboration becomes entrenched in the industry as the business events sector continues to adapt to the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic. Opportunities should be pursued in the areas of partnerships and collaborations, shared value propositions and closer alliances which as proposed may well enable the industry on the African continent to not only adapt but become more resilient post Covid-19.

ii) S trategic framework for the creation of new air routes within the continent This is not the first time debates on liberalising air transport in Africa would be proposed to governments across the continent. As early as 1999, forty-four member states of the African Union (AU) endorsed the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD), a treaty which called for the implementation of the

open skies across African countries, which became binding in 2002. Though the implementation remained largely unsatisfactory due to the limited adoption of the YD by some of the AU states for more than a decade, twenty-three African countries in January 2018 under the auspices of the AU launched the SAATM, an initiative largely based on the agreements of the Yamoussoukro Decision.

Covid-19 has provided stakeholders from governments, business, and the tourism sector to start thinking and acting differently in relation to the economic downturn inspired by the pandemic. Consequently, the opening up of more intra-Africa routes, the establishment of trade relationships and economic development on the continent augur well for business travel and events. As such, governments on the continent will need to establish enabling environments for business to develop through collaborative policy imperatives. Through these policy initiatives, it will become clear what new air transport routes can be established based on their viability. One area where this should be leveraged will be in the area of intra-regional trade and tourism. Opening up of the skies in this instance will require governments and airlines to take a cooperative approach with other players in expanding their capacity in conjunction with tourism service providers.

The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) provides Africa with a massive opportunity to consider the establishment of new routes for air transport within the continent.

To achieve this, a detailed analysis of current legacy routes is required. Such analysis will force the operators to face the reality of the economic operational environments within which airlines function. The advantage of this scenario is that it will lead to the shutting down of certain routes, especially in cases where there has been a clear demonstration of misalignment. As such, both governments and airlines will be forced to think differently on strategic leverages to get private capital involved in the sector. Governments therefore will need to work closely with airlines and other aviation stakeholders to formulate, promote or implement policies that support air transport growth. One way to support the growth and development of the aviation industry in Africa, according to SAATM, is the need for the African Development Bank to assist African airlines to increase intra-Africa traffic and improve connectivity in order to be more competitive and profitable.

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CONCLUSION

In closing, Africa relies on business events travel and tourism to counter the triple threats of poverty, unemployment and hunger. Major business event travel and tourism client concerns currently are around issues of security, both financial and healthcare, with the global chaos caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even as the situation is changing rapidly across the globe, Africa is also considering reopening for business events tourism. While it is a great idea to seek ways of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is equally a good time to consider resilience and response in general and for future hardships that may impact the sector. Response and resilience plans should be developed for Covid-19 in a measured and consistent way. The responses should be proportionate to the public health threat and based on local and regional risk assessment, involving every part of the business events tourism value chain – public bodies, private companies, and travellers. Intra-Africa collaboration and cooperation are needed to ensure pandemic panic does not

paralyse the business events tourism industry which is so important to the regional economy.

Africa should learn from destinations that have reopened and are on a recovery path. One of the bigger concerns is the argument of the consideration between public health versus the economy. However, the response should not be about pitting one against the other. Rather debates and discussion should focus on both: the ability for business event tourism to operate safely whilst generating socio-economic benefits across the continent, and simultaneously protecting lives through strict health and safety protocols until such a time that a cure or vaccine is available.

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While the business events tourism sector is under pressure at the moment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is no doubt that there is a rebound on the horizon, however the ability to bounce back will be enhanced through the continued collaboration between African countries.

It is incumbent on continental authorities to benefit from the fact that the continent reacted early and swiftly in instituting control measures at the very outset of the outbreak of the pandemic. It is therefore critical that governments on the continent develop clear guidelines and protocols, but even more importantly, these have to be communicated in an accurate and unbiased manner.

While the business events and tourism industry are self-regulating, and are putting great public health and safety measures and protocols in place, consistent communication is required to appease business event tourism owners and travellers who are looking for ways to navigate the Covid-19 uncertainties. Restoring consumer confidence will be essential to the recovery of the BETTA sector: without pro-actively adopting new protocol/ standards and communicating them, travel will remain limited. Africa therefore should begin by creating structure and organisational policies that allows the continent to collaborate on such issues.

In the area of human capital management, there should be a heightened emphasis on duty of care and establishing robust human capital management strategies. The institution of practical solutions in relation to how people could work together and how such will be communicated, implemented and monitored is critical. As a critical socio-economic

sector in terms of its contribution and impetus in Africa, focus should be on clearly articulating, as a collective, the strategies that are being developed in preparation for the reopening of the business tourism and events sector in Africa.

Governments on the continent are encouraged to swiftly develop policies that will allow for the sector to promote both domestic and intra-Africa travel and trade. Governments should collaborate in developing new recovery models based on the assessment of current trends and the impact of the pandemic which could form baseline strategies for mitigating economic recovery.

A borderless Africa should be seen as a foundation for a viable continental market aimed at accelerating growth and allow the continent to be more competitive in global trade. With workable policies, solutions and protocols in place, countries could start collaborating in terms of more inter-regional and intra-African travel. This would allow tourism sectors within the continent to develop across borders, thereby creating economies of scale for potential investors given that investors are more likely to be attracted by markets that are integrated.

Therefore, in conclusion, the current Covid-19 pandemic thus presents an opportunity to ensure the realisation of regional tourism and growth.

Expressed willingness from all stakeholders must drive the implementation of initiatives such as visa on-arrival and free visa regimes across the continent. To achieve this, strong leadership in policy decisions would see the tourism sector reopening safely and profitably.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Project leader: Tes Proos, president of Site Africa Project research partners: Dr H.K.N Bama and Ms E. Venske (Department of Tourism and Event Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology) Project research contributors: Dr C.N. Dube, Mr. G. Muresherwa, Ms P. Mokoena, Ms Z. Bavuma and Ms. Z. Tomlinson (Department of Tourism and Event Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology).

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ANNEXURE 1 Key industry stakeholder participants (SITE Africa Summit) Name

Position

Company or Association

Country

1

Tes Proos

President

SITE Africa

South Africa

2

Jon Howell

CEO/Founder

AviaDev

3

David Sand

Founder/CEO

Uwin, Iwin

South Africa

4

Hugo Slimbrouck

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Ovation Global DMC

Belgium

5

Rob Kucera

District Director East Africa & General Manager

Radisson-Blu Hotels East Africa

Kenya

6

Rosemary Mugambi

Director of Sales & Marketing Serena Hotels

Kenya

7

Didier Scaillet

Global CEO

SITE Global

USA

8

Kwakye Donkor

CEO

Africa Tourism Partners

Ghana

9

Jacinta Nzioka

National Coordinator

Kenyan Convention Bureau

Kenya

10 Jeffers Miruka

CEO/President

African Society of Executive Associations/ African Society of Economics

Kenya

11 Lily Rakorong

Board Member

Hospitality & Tourism Association

Botswana

12 Gary Koetser

CEO

Century City Conference Centre

South Africa

13 Frank Murangwa

Marketing Director

Rwanda Convention Bureau

Rwanda

14 Aaron Munetsi

African Aviation Enthusiast

Private

South Africa

15 Zuks Ramasia

CEO

BARSA

South Africa

16 Paul Van Den Brink

Senior Project Manager

WESGRO

South Africa

17 Toni Ukachukwu

CEO

Aviators Africa

Nigeria

18 Miller Matola

CEO

Millvest

South Africa

19 Cuthbert Ncube

Chairman

African Tourism Board

South Africa

20 Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa

CEO

Tourism Business Council of South Africa

South Africa

21 Akwase Agyeman

CEO

Ghana Tourism Authority

Ghana

22 Givemore Chidzidzi CEO (Acting)

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority

Zimbabwe

23 Deon Cloete

General Manager

Cape Town International Airport

South Africa

24 Doris Parsons

Managing Partner

SRC Agency

Tanzania/ Rwanda

25 Linda Pereira

CEO/Senior Partner

L&I Communications Group

Portugal

26 Peter Tarlow

Founder/President

Tourism & More

USA

27 Mike Lord

Managing Director

Line Safety Management and Alliance Venue and Facilities Management.

South Africa

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Contact SITE Africa

President: Tes Proos Email: tes@crystalevents.co.za Tel: +27 (0)84 682 7676 www.siteglobal.com

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