The conference industry is growing from strength to strength (writer: Shaun Meyer)

The convention industry in South Africa has grown substantially in the past decade, with three conference centres having established themselves among the best in the world.

The country’s three major centres – the International Convention Centre Durban, Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg – not only contributed greatly to the local economies of the three cities but also to the economy and stature of the country.

A convention is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss a common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession and fandom.

Trade conventions usually focus on a particular industry or industry segment, and feature keynote speakers, vendor displays and other information and activities of interest to the event organisers and attendees.

Professional conventions focus on issues of concern to a profession and advancements in a profession.

Fan conventions usually feature displays, shows and sales based on pop culture and quest celebrities.¹

A conference centre, however, generates substantially wider activities than only meetings. It is a focal point of the events planning sector, stimulates tourism, and generates business for the catering industry, the decor business and other support utilities and services.

The organisation controlling the conference industry in South Africa is the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI), formed in 1987.

SAACI is tasked with maintaining and improving the standards of efficiency and professionalism for the conference and events industry in southern Africa.

The conference industry is a major contributor to investments for economies around the world. Due to ever increasing additional travel by delegates, this brings millions of rands into the host city or country’s economy.

It is a great way for developing nations to gain more awareness internationally.

South Africa, being a two-tier economy, is always positioned well for investments from the conference industry. SAACI is aware of the increasing importance of southern Africa as an international conference destination.

SAACI comprises more than 1 250 members from a variety of sectors within the conference industry, including conference venues, conference and event organisers and a large variety of service providers such as audiovisual, entertainment, decor catering services and many others. The need for an organisation of this kind was identified by South African Tourism (SAT).

At an SAT media briefing, Nina Freysen Pretorius, national chairperson of SAACI, said that “since these events are generally held on a biannual cycle by region anyway, members do not lose business by submitting their data. On the contrary, it strengthens members and countries by sharing information, which offers great potential for generating new business.”

CTICC

The CTICC has, in its relatively short existence, not only become one of the best conference centres in the world, but has also become a landmark on the Foreshore in the city of Cape Town.

It was established in 1999 and cost R582 million to build, with funding provided by:

• The City of Cape Town – R284m;
• The Provincial Government of the Western Cape – R142m;
• SunWest International – R140m; and
• Convenco – R16m.

With all the international visitors who gather at conventions, the CTICC is well positioned to take advantage of some of the major tourist attractions in and around the city, boosting the local tourism industry.

As one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the world, Cape Town is no ordinary city. As it continues to enjoy growth in international business tourism, the CTICC is positioned to contribute significantly to the growth in tourism revenue in the Western Cape and South Africa as a whole.

South Africa’s transport infrastructure is one of the best in Africa, with a varied number of transport alternatives in the major cities.

The country is regarded as a value-for-money destination, making tourism a major driver of the country’s economy.

In the years since it first opened for business, the CTICC has played a significant part in growing business tourism, becoming widely regarded as one of the leading convention centres in the southern hemisphere. It has innovative design combined with a high standard of service and five-star accommodation facilities.

It aims to become the best long-haul international convention centre by 2020 and undisputed leading convention centre in the southern hemisphere.

Chief executive officer of the CTICC Rashid Toefy says: “The CTICC is so much more than a venue – it’s a platform for effective communication and a destination where people connect. Here, innovation is highly prized as the one component of our offering that consistently puts us ahead of the pack.”

One of the CTICC mission statements is to maximise economic spin-off and job creation, and it already saw 3 744 people being employed directly in the Western Cape.

With a cumulative turnover of R445m over the last five years, and revenue of R129m generated by the Centre in the 2008 financial year alone, the establishment of the CTICC represents money well spent by the City of Cape Town and its contributors that made it possible.

The economic impact of the CTICC during 2008 translates to a contribution to the national gross domestic product of almost R2.7 billion, and R872.1m to the Western Cape. In only five years, the CTICC has contributed over R9.5bn to the South African national economy.

The intention of the centre management and Convenco is to continue growing this contribution in the years ahead, with a target of a further R21bn to the national GDP over the next five years.

ICC Durban

The ICC Durban will be hosting one of the world’s largest conferences, the 17th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – or COP 17 – from 28 November to 9 December 2011.

Acting CEO Jeremy Hurter says winning this conference demonstrates how important investments in convention and exhibition facilities are for the city and the province.

“Hosting an event of this calibre and magnitude will leave a lasting legacy in terms of sustainability for the city. Based on our track record, the ICC Durban and the city of Durban have the absolute confidence that we can host an event of this size,” he states.

“We believe climate change is a significant challenge, which can only be addressed if all stakeholders act with community of purpose and solidarity of resolve.”

The ICC Durban is one of the most advanced conference facilities in the world, with flexibility and versatility, which are key factors in the design of this state-of-the-art technology-driven centre.

Moveable walls allow for a number of different venue configurations.

Alternatively, the halls can be opened up to form one large venue with seating for 5 000 delegates on 7 000 square metres of column-free floor space.

Together with the adjacent exhibition centre, the ICC can double its capacity to accommodate 10 000 conference delegates. It can function independently or as two halves of one whole.

The ICC Durban has been voted Africa’s leading conference centre for eight consecutive years by the World Travel Awards and is ranked in the top 20 convention centres in the world by International Association of Congress Centres.

Some of the major conferences held at the ICC Durban include.

• XII Non-Aligned Movement Summit
  in 1998;
• Commonwealth heads of government meeting in 1999;
• World Conference Against Racism in 2001;
• World Lottery Association Congress
  of 2004;
• Tourism Indaba 2009;
• International Spinal Cord Society Conference 2008;
• UB40 concert;
• International Council of Nurses Conference 2009; and
• 57th Session of the International Statistics Institute 2009.

Sandton Convention Centre

The Sandton Convention Centre was developed by Tsogo Sun and is managed by Southern Sun Hotel Interest. Sun Investments is a black empowerment group representing black business.

Southern Sun Hotel Interest is the largest hotel operator in Africa, with a successful chain of 79 hotels, making the Sandton Convention Centre privately owned.

Considering all factors, conferencing is a major driver for the South African economy, investments, tourism and job creation. With so many different types of conferences and exhibitions, it has the ability to interest a large spectrum of society.

Reference

1. Convention information retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/convention_(meeting)