South Africa’s credentials have been given a major boost and have cemented the country’s position as Africa’s top business events destination. The International Congress and Convention Associations (ICCA) 2013 ICCA rankings show that South Africa has gained three places on the global rankings placing it at number 34 from 37. In 2013, South Africa hosted 118 meetings officially making it the number one convention destination in Africa and the Middle East.
Furthermore, two of the country’s cities – Durban and Cape Town – are placed in the Top 100 cities in the world for business events. “We are exceptionally happy with this announcement. Our hard work and the execution of the ‘Rise with Us’ strategy launched last year is clearly bearing fruits. We launched it to address and change the misconceptions the global industry has about South Africa and it seems the message is being well received,” said Thulani Nzima, Chief Executive Officer, South African Tourism.
The South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) was launched in 2012 to help grow and position the country as a favourable destination. At the time of its launch, South Africa had already hosted numerous mega events and meetings and conferences of global significance which had catapulted the nation’s skills and capabilities into the international spotlight.
“Before 1994, the first year of our democracy, South Africa hosted 12 international association conferences. Fast forward to 2013 and we have grown this number to 118 ICCA recognised meetings. We have also hosted 1 038 international association conferences that met ICCA’s criteria since 1994 and remain ranked under the top 11 long haul destinations globally,” revealed Nzima.
SANCB manages and hosts the continent’s pan-African business event tradeshow, Meetings Africa. The show delivers a quality business platform for growing the continent’s business events industry. Next year, Meetings Africa will celebrate its tenth year and is now firmly established as the biggest, best represented and most valuable business events tradeshow in Africa.
“We’re excited about the growth of Meetings Africa and how it brings the best of Africa under one roof. It is an excellent business platform, an opportunity to discuss, network and work on ways in which we, as players in the business events sector, can and should pool together for the betterment of the industry, and of Africa,” said Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, Chief Convention Bureau Officer, South African Tourism.
Furthermore, with Emirates and Qatar Airways commencing operations to Warsaw, PTO has recorded a large improvement in inbound from India.
PTO also announced its online certification programme for Indian travel agents. Kubik opined that this will help the agents to work closely with PTO and their partners and also educate them about the destination to help them sell and package it better. The programme is expected to have five thematic modules with three steps of certification, namely Bronze, Silver and Gold.
In addition, the tourism agency has launched a dedicated Quick Response (QR) code in the Indian market to promote Poland as a Film Tourism destination. “This dedicated QR application code, will include detailed information on filming locations in Poland. Indian film producers can gain information on film locations, film producers, facilities including studios, etc., using the 3D bar code. We want to promote our destination through movies as we see it as the best way of showcasing our tourism offerings.” PTO has already signed a couple of contracts for Indian movies to be shot in Warsaw and Krakow. This includes the upcoming Bollywood project, ‘Kick’.
