Meetings Africa 2020 a truly African event | South African Tourism

MMeetings Africa 2020 a truly African event | South African Tourism

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, THURSDAY, 27th FEBRUARY 2020: Throughout Meetings Africa 2020, it was clear that the event had grown to become a truly Africa-wide platform that serves to benefit the business events and tourism industries not just in South Africa, but across the continent too.

Meetings Africa 2020 took place from 25^th to 26^th February at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg and brought together stakeholders within the business events and tourism industries. The event was born 15 years ago in response to the global meetings industry’s growing recognition of Africa as a sought-after premier business events destination.

Under the theme, “Shared economies”, Meetings Africa looked at collaborative African growth, connecting people and ideas, and the continent’s value proposition within the global economy. The theme is also defined as a socio-economic network in which assets and services are shared between private individuals, either free or for a fee. It ties into the sharing and communal existence that is an intrinsic African way of life.

In his trade floor opening address, South African Tourism CEO, Sisa Ntshona, said one of the key objectives of Meetings Africa is to encourage and stimulate the rotation of meetings on the continent. “It is a platform for the regional business events industry to engage in a bid to attract more global and regional business events to Africa.”

A clear sign that Meetings Africa is elevating business on the continent is in its awarding the Uganda Convention Bureau the best medium-sized stand at the Green Stand Awards. It was the first time an establishment outside of South Africa had walked away with an award.

It was encouraging to find international buyers turning to the continent for new and innovative travel packages and that they recognised Meetings Africa as the best place to find them.

This year’s event has improved on a number of fronts, including:

• 100% of the exhibitor stands sold – a vast improvement from 95% in 2019.
• 118 square metres more floor space sold compared to last year.
• 329 exhibitors
• 155 main exhibitors, three more than last year
• 321 buyers that include 205 international hosted buyers
• 8,000 meetings held, 200 more than 2019.

Business conversion greater than last year

For the Director of Tourism at the City of Johannesburg, Thandubuhle Mgudlwa, this year’s Meetings Africa has brought in a higher conversion rate of business compared to 2019. “To me, you would rather have less [attendees] with high a level of business conducted. To a large degree, there’s been a lot of business conducted and confirmed.”

Mgudlwa said that Johannesburg has been playing catch-up to Cape Town as South Africa’s premier MICE destination. But they now find themselves close behind the Mother City, having secured 5th spot in the 2018 International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) rankings.

However, he pointed out that the two cities do not compete with each other and instead are starting to collaborate. This is because cities from other African countries have slowly creeped up the ICCA rankings, some of which overtook Johannesburg and Durban. “There is something they are doing well in MICE. So together with Durban and Cape Town, we are collaborating instead of competing and joining efforts to secure more MICE activities.”

Additionally, the city is leveraging its partnership with Southern African Association for the Conferencing Industry and working towards a broader strategic partnership on MICE.

Quality of buyers is high

Nonnie Kubeka, the Head of the Gauteng Convention & Events Bureau, said that the quality of buyers invited to this year’s Meetings Africa was high. “What was exciting with the buyers themselves is that they gave request for proposals that are between 2024 and 2028. So we have to go back and work very hard to bring together all the information that they require for them to make a decision to bring their events to Gauteng.”

For Kubeka, Meetings Africa gave her group the opportunity to showcase less popular destinations such as Cradle of Humankind, Sedibeng and Ekurhuleni. Additionally, most of the buyers Gauteng had met were first-time visitors to South Africa. “Their expectations were met because they were not expecting the infrastructure they had seen.”

How to ensure Meetings Africa remains a success in the future

At next year’s Meetings Africa, Kubeka would like to see more buyers from the automotive, aviation and financial industries. “We saw a lot of medical, educational and research buyers this year. But I would like Meetings Africa to invite more from our priority sectors because those are the low-hanging fruits that we can convert to real business.”

Mgudlwa said South African Tourism, South African National Convention Bureau, City of Johannesburg and its partners would need to explore ways of being more aggressive in securing MICE business if they are to make next year’s Meetings Africa a success. “We need to merge resources and club our expertise because I believe we are all committed to making it a success. As partners, we also need to engage with private sector more to gain their support and participation and to ensure the success of Meetings Africa in 2021.”

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