Business events industry served to Bay on silver plate
12 July 2013
SAACI relates to business events tourism, previously known as meetings, industry, conference and events (MICE).
SAACI Eastern Cape, together with NMBT and other industry stakeholders have worked hard to ensure that the 2013 national congress and exhibition of SAACI will be held at the new Boardwalk Convention Centre on the city’s beachfront. Congress chairman, Andrew Stewart said delegates can expect in-depth discussions about topics related to, among others, marketing, hybrid events, legal aspects and human resources.
As with most conferences held in the Bay, SAACI delegates will be presented with a plethora of pre-conference tours that include visiting games reserves and city and township orientations, whichare highlighted with other tourist attractions in the Nelson Mandela Bay Pass.
“When involved in planning business events like the SAACI Congress, the above average friendliness of our people surfaces,” said Skefile.
“Business events and similar conferences assist in positioning Nelson Mandela Bay as a preferred Business Events destination in South Africa. Hosting of business events in any destination helps to deal with seasonality, which is often caused by leisure tourism. Business events is a sector that has the potential to be an extremely profitable industry and as a city, we are determined to claim our share of this business.”
SA Tourism’s National Conference Bureau (NCB) has pledged to increase the number of Business Events in South Africa by 57%. South Africa has secured 88 international association meetings - to be staged between 2013-2017 - with an estimated economic impact of R2.6 billion over five years and an estimated delegate number of 198 900.
Skefile said in the past twelve months some of the meetings held in the Bay included the SARIMA Conference, SA Automotive Week, SA Statistical Conference, SA Society of Anesthesiologists Congress, EC Ports & Maritime Conference, SA Spine Society Congress with the NMMU hosting the Business School - Emerging Markets Conference and Afrilex (African Association for Lexicography) Conference, ANC Provincial Conference and more.
On the cards include the Student Expo, Seventh Veterinary and Paraveterinary Congress, the South African Cat Council Cat of the Year (Coty) and the Association Accounts Committees Conference - all scheduled to take place in the Bay.
The city has a capacity of 48 meeting venues, which are ideal for association meetings as well as corporate meetings. A challenge is the shortage of venues big enough for more than 2 000 delegates with enough breakaway rooms for other activities like media briefings, exhibitions and other large events like concerts. Currently most, if not all, large exhibitions are held in car parks of various shopping centres. The city’s much anticipated development of a facility that could cater for these challenges is welcomed.
The tourism attractions available in Nelson Mandela Bay and its surrounding regions, makes it ideal to host incentive groups. The estimated market size of the Indian long-haul outbound MICE travel market is between 400 000 and 1 200 000 trips per year. Meetings Africa 2013 hosted 147 international hosted buyers with 36 buyers primarily from India, the highest concentration from one country. India is identified as a key growth market for incentives. As a pre- Meetings Africa 2013 tour, NMBT hosted a group of four Outbound Tour Operators from India and one from Canada who confirmed that NMB is an ideal incentive destination.
“Parallel to this process is to ensure that the destination is ready to host this market by ensuring that we have the right kind of suppliers. The development of DMCs (Destination Management Companies) for instance is key,” said Skefile.
“It is prudent therefore to strengthen our ability as a destination to attract Business Events as a joint effort between the destination events business unit and its suppliers, DMCs and PCOs (professional conference organisers). Public sector needs the support of private sector to succeed. The NCB has a vision for the country and it is up to us as a destination and the contributions of the industry at large to make sure that we all win as one.”
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