Meeting News - November 10, 2008 - (Page 4E)

Consider these scenarios: A business deal is sealed by the lantern light of an outdoor boma, or gathering place, at a luxurious game lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve. A possible joint venture is discussed over a rich cabernet, in one of the elegant small hotels that dot the Western Cape wine country. A group of convention attendees talk shop as they hike along the Indian Ocean coast. Busy meeting delegates finally get a chance to unwind on a post-trip to a posh spa resort along the Garden Route. Incentive winners click flutes of champagne and sample caviar as they watch the sun set from the top of Cape Town’s Table Mountain—sharing in the delight of having exceeded this year’s sales goals. A great deal of business is done in South Africa as people from all over the world travel there to attend meetings or conventions or to participate in incentive programs. Much of that business, however, is done away from the board room or conference hall. That is what South African Tourism means by “business unusual.” After all, you don’t travel to South Africa without wanting to get out and see the vast country with its wealth of sights: sea, mountain, game parks, city, and everything in between and maybe closing a deal or getting the next big idea while you do it. The number of people conducting that business continues to rise, says Laura Saeger, CMP, CMM, business tourism manager, South African Tourism, USA. In 2007, 652,000 business travelers arrived in South Africa, 7.17 percent of total arrivals. “That exceeded the 490,000, or 5.85 percent of arrivals in 2006, which in turn exceeded the 398,000 business tourists who arrived in 2005,” Saeger says. Success breeds success. South African Tourism continues to pull in major, high-profile meetings and conventions. One example: The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), the world’s largest association of travel professionals, will hold its 2009 International Destination Expo in South Africa next March. A sampling of other high-profile meetings in the pipeline for 2009 would include the Sixth International Coastal and Marine Tourism Congress, the 4,000-delegate 29th International Congress on Occupational Health, and the Fifth IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis Treatment and Prevention, which will bring 10,000 delegates to South Africa. In 2010, the 4,000-delegate World Security Forum will meet there. Both the 8,000-delegate World Critical Care Conference and the 8,000-delegate International Federation of Dental Hygiene will meet in South Africa in 2013. Bill Haire, managing partner of Nashville-based Travelink American Express, has worked on as many as 10 South African meetings and incentives over the years and is currently planning another major meeting to be held there: The World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women’s 2011 Assembly. His group has chosen South Africa “because they go all over the world, and they have not been to Africa recently,” he says. “We are looking at Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, and Johannesburg,” he adds, noting that he needs a conference venue with simultaneous translation capability, the ability to simulcast a speaker from a remote location, and that can “serve three good meals a day.” Haire likes working with South Africa because the infrastructure is all in place, including enough hotel rooms to accommodate a large group. Of course, there are abundant post-meeting options too, but, in Haire’s mind, one stands out. “In South Africa, there is an understanding that the animals are what people most want to see,” he concludes. Arrangements will be made for that to happen. THREE MAJOR CONVENTION CENTERS MEAN DESTINATION CHOICE T he Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), located at the foot of Table Mountain, opened in June 2003 and is continually booked for meetings large and small. It offers more than 107,000 square feet of flexible exhibition space, a 21,527-square-foot Grand Ballroom, two auditoriums, and the Roof Terrace meeting room with Table Mountain views. More than 3,500 hotel rooms are within walking distance, with an additional 16,000 rooms within 45 minutes. Key attendees and speakers are frequently booked into the 483-room Westin Grand Cape Town Arabella Quays, adjacent to the center. The International Convention Center in Durban, set on the Indian Ocean coast and backed by the Drakensburg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal province, has been honored as “Africa’s Leading Convention Centre” by World Travel Awards for six consecutive years, making it one of the conti- 3

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Meeting News - November 10, 2008

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