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A MESSAGE FROM DEPUTY MINISTER TOKOZILE XASA Business events do more than just contribute to the economy
T
Tokozile Xasa
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Please recycle me
he year 2014 is a very important year for this country. On 27 April, South Africans will celebrate two decades of freedom and democracy. And what an exciting two decades we have had. In the last 20 years, we have been faced with the challenge of healing a nation, transforming and rebuilding a society and an economy, and re-emerging into a global marketplace from which we had been isolated for so long. As we celebrate the opening of Meetings Africa 2014, we welcome 1000 hosted buyers and approximately 260 exhibitors from countries around the world, all eager to do business with our country and our continent. Thank you also to the buyers who have come from every corner of the globe to see for themselves what makes this continent the most exciting place to host your meetings and conferences. We welcome all 190 of our international hosted buyers from just under 40 countries to our beautiful continent. We are certain that you will leave Meetings Africa 2014 inspired by how far this continent has come. You will go back home energised, inspired and confident to bring your next event to Africa and to put your business in capable hands. Then, to the South African business events industry, what a road we have travelled and what amazing feats we have achieved. To all representatives from the convention centres – from the chief executives to the events planners, the drivers, the cleaning staff, the marketing managers, the waiters, the exhibition coordinators – thank you. You are the people who have built an industry from scratch, establishing South Africa’s excellent reputation in a highly competitive market in a mere two decades. Allow me a few minutes to remind you of where we have come from and what we have achieved in the last two decades: • In 1994, the first year of our democracy, South Africa hosted 12 international association
conferences, in other words, those conferences that had met the International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) ranking criteria. • Those 12 conferences brought a total of 5 950 people to our shores. By 2012, we had grown that number to 97 ICCA-recognised meetings, which attracted 52 587 delegates to the country, injecting an estimated R663 million into the South African economy. For the year 2013, we submitted 130 meetings to ICCA and we are confident of an even greater economic impact on the South African economy. According to ICCA, South Africa has hosted 1 290 international association conferences that met their criteria since 1994. • Furthermore, from having no international convention centres in 1994, South Africa boasts five today. In the last couple of years, the Eastern Cape has added two international convention centres to South Africa’s tally, namely the East London International Convention Centre (in 2010) and, last year, the Boardwalk International Convention Centre in Port Elizabeth. We also have the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, Gallagher Estate in Midrand, as well as the expo centres at the Coca-Cola Dome and Nasrec. But business events do more than contribute to the economy. Business events create a platform to develop the country’s intellectual capital and showcase fields and sectors where South Africa demonstrates global leadership that money cannot buy. We understand very well that, in the prevailing knowledge economy, convention tourism is about more than direct tourism receipts. It also has a huge indirect impact on the country’s economy and competitiveness. • It stimulates international markets for locally produced goods and services.
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It builds business contacts and trade and research links. • It also creates access to new technologies, new ideas and new professional networks. But it has also been about more than facilities and infrastructure; it has been about putting in place an enabling environment for growing the business events industry. In the early years of our democracy, the industry was fragmented, with industry participants fiercely competing for international business, often at each other’s expense. This has changed dramatically, and probably our most important achievement in the last 20 years is the creation of a united industry, working together to grow our global reputation for the benefit of all businesses in the sector. In 2012, we established the South African National Convention Bureau (SANCB) to provide an even more structured and focused approach. The SANCB is a onestop business events support facility for South Africa, with a clear mandate to market and sell South Africa as a business events destination. Its goal is clear: to grow business events hosted in South Africa by 50% by 2020, with firm targets in place when it comes to growing the number of delegates attending international conventions and business events, total direct spend, contribution to GDP and job creation. 20 years on since our country attained true freedom, I am proud to say that we are where we dreamed we would be. Together, we have built the infrastructure and the expertise; we have created an enabling environment for growth; we know where we want to go and, importantly, we have an industry and a government committed to taking this sector forward. As Africa grows as a destination, the world’s travel buyers are increasingly demanding one seamless, accessible experience of our continent. People are interested in experiencing as much of Africa as possible.
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