MEETINGS AFRICA 2013 – BUILDING AFRICA INTO A GLOBAL GIANT, TOGETHER
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ELCOME TO MEETINGS AFRICA 2013, themed ‘Advancing Africa Together’, so anticipate a distinctly African flavor as you go about doing business over the next three days. We are delighted to welcome a record number of quality international, regional and local buyers, delegates and exhibitors. This is testimony that this year’s event will deliver excellent business and networking opportunities. Seventy eight percent of the international hosted buyers attending this year’s Meetings Africa have never been to South Africa before. They represent a potential of almost 62 000 delegates that could attend business events held in South Africa.
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As a delegate, exhibitor or visitor, you are an essential role-player in a wonderful African story about to unfold, and we’re delighted that you’re on board. Our panAfrican strategy has been carefully devised to unleash the power of co-operation across the African business events industry, and to offer full support to all delegates in making it happen. This continent has the potential to become a world giant in business event hosting, and each Meetings Africa attendee is an essential building block in this dream. The host of Meetings Africa 2013, the South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB), works collaboratively with key partners in the industry, to develop the business event industry and grow its market globally. The SANCB has based this drive on well-researched data that shows unequivocally that there is huge, untapped potential to grow business events - not only in South Africa but across the continent where economic growth has been nearly five percent over the last two years. Come visit the SANCB stand located at the entrance of the exhibition floor. We are on stand number 500. At this year’s show the SANCB will seek to secure more African association meetings, attract more business event arrivals, partner with African professionals to grow Africa, and to secure a higher International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranking
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for South Africa. We are doing well, but by working together we can do even better and Meetings Africa is an excellent platform. A few changes have been introduced this year to enhance Meetings Africa. Today is the Business Opportunity Networking Day (BOND) and offers workshops and seminars tailor-made for delegates to meet and strike up business partnerships, and to hear from the business events industry’s leading local and global experts. A valuable addition this year is an international hosted buyer qualification process led by International Conference and Incentive Travel Research (ICR) Inc, a thorough vetting system that investigates each nominated buyer, their track record and business portfolio. Another hugely significant platform for business events growth in the region is South Africa’s membership of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The business events industry is well placed to grow, and grow fast. With the willing buy-in, co-operation and partnership by industry role-players like yourselves, business events will become one of the most important and sustainable economic development sectors in South Africa, and the African continent as a whole. And Meetings Africa is the engine room of this work. May it be profitable and successful for us all.
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