Direct from Meetings Africa 2017 – New bidding fund approved by the National Treasury will give South Africa’s business events industry the extra muscle to bid for international association conferences, meetings, incentives and exhibitions.
Tourism Minister, Derek Hanekom, announced during the opening address of Meetings Africa 2017 trade show held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg this week that the Treasury has allocated R20 million (USD1.5 million) for the 2017/2018 financial year (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018), and R90 million for the following three years, to the bidding fund.
Minister Hanekom said the fund will be a catalyst that propels the country’s business events industry to a “higher league”, and enable the national convention bureau as well as provincial and city convention bureaux to attract more regional and international business events and delegates.
The fund will focus on attracting events aligned with the government’s “priority” economic sectors: manufacturing, mining and metals, business process outsourcing, creative industries, life sciences, and information and communication technology.
With an aim to enhance South Africa’s status as a knowledge-based economy where the world’s academics, health professionals and the scientific community gather to share knowledge and research ideas, the minister said: “Hosting major events in these sectors will reap rich macroeconomic benefits for our country."
Sisa Ntshona, Chief Executive Officer of South African Tourism, revealed that the new bidding fund will give incentive to its new “5 in 5” strategy to attract five million more visitors in the next five years.
He indicated encouraging signs that the Meetings Africa show was fulfilling its mandate of positioning the continent as a premier destination for business events, citing the substantial increase in hosted buyers from African and international associations, as well as a large number of corporate buyers.
Association and corporate professionals from the Asia Pacific region make up the second largest group of hosted buyers, behind the US.
The tourism board is also working to introduce more destination offerings to the market, South Africa being comprised of nine provinces.
“There is so much untapped potential for our entire continent to grow as a premier destination for business events. It’s time for Africa to show its immense value to the rest of the world as a business events destination. We must strike while the iron is hot,” declared Minister Hanekom.
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