INDUSTRY PREDICTIONS 2023

Industry predictions for 2023

Business events industry leaders take a look into the crystal ball to see what 2023 may bring…

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Esmaré Steinhöfel, regional director Africa, International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA)

2022 : the year our industry came back together. Covid concerns are not completely over, but we are now very resilient. Learning from our shared experience helps us look forward to 2023 with hope. This year was about consolidation. Next year is about making everything better than it ever was before — for Africa, and the global community.

ICCA chief executive officer, Sentil Gopinath, said: “ICCA will be a leader in Africa as we take our industry forward. The world is ready… and we need the meetings and events community globally, regionally and locally to think, do, and deliver more. Our challenge is giving Africa an amazing platform and presence to share with everyone. We greatly look forward to meeting it head on.”

Guiding us – and giving ICCA a defined business focus – stand our pillars of sustainability; legacy; diversity, equity and inclusion. Pillars very evident in both the content – and branding – of our recent 61st Congress in Krakow.

Bringing new members to the ICCA community remains a key objective. This year, we were delighted to welcome both the Niger Convention Agency and the Ghana Tourism Authority from West Africa. We have members now in Southern, East and West Africa, and hope to expand throughout the rest of the continent in 2023.

New members always bring new ideas, new connections, new opportunities, new lifeblood and assists ICCA’s goal of adopting a ‘whole Africa’ approach. ICCA will continue collaboration with industry partners like the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI), and the African Society of Association Executives (AfSAE). To grow the association market fraternity on the continent, more regional – as well as international – association conferences, need to be secured. Something we are keen to achieve in 2023.

Re-emergence, growing the whole Africa community, using our pillars to shape our strategy, attracting more conferences… what else will we be talking about in 2023? There is a lot of buzz around the ‘Metaverse’, again something discussed at the Congress. It forms part of the wider conversation about the use of technology, customer expectations, sustainability, time and travel, and of course, legacy. One certainty is: when we meet, it has to mean more. Meetings are experiential events. Delegates need to feel inspired.

We must inspire ourselves, too. Educating and upskilling our people improves how we function, find, and develop new talent. We are still a people business. The need to develop new talent – especially the young professionals – inspired us to launch ICCASkills: the first Global certification for our industry, earlier this year. Created by industry experts, ICCASkills will help replenish the talent pool so badly impacted by the pandemic. This innovative education programme gives industry executives the knowledge, skills, and tools to set new standards in best practice. ICCA’s goal is to encourage more members – and nonmembers – in Africa, to sign up, and help shape the future.

Here’s to 2023… an exciting, successful and innovative year for all who hold the business events industry close to their hearts in our beloved Africa.

Justin Hawes, incoming president of the International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services

Review of 2022

One forgets that at the beginning of 2022 we were still in the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the wave died down, the business events industry in South Africa began to pick up slowly, still subject to government restrictions on large gatherings. It was only on 22 June 2022 that all restrictions were lifted, and business events could operate as in pre-pandemic conditions. Our industry typically has a long lead time but during 2022 smaller business events and conferences started up again as restrictions eased. Bigger exhibitions took slightly longer to resume.

We were so grateful that we were able to operate as normal in the second half of 2022. However, the impact of the pandemic continued to be felt. The sector has lost many skilled workers to other industries, many companies didn’t survive the pandemic, and those that did don’t have the resources they had pre-pandemic.

I see my international colleagues facing some of the same challenges as they deal with skills shortages resulting from employees leaving the industry permanently during the pandemic. It will take time and energy to attract and train new employees.

Once business resumed in 2022, there was pressure on the industry to make up for lost time. There was also pressure on a limited number of venues, resulting in short and stressful build-up and break-down times.

Outlook for 2023

We are hoping for an easier 2023, with the advance planning of events and more manageable build-up and break-down times. As our industry rebuilds, we hope to have more resources to reduce the chaos and sometimes frenetic activity of 2022.

I think there will be some rationalisation of events in certain sectors. However, as companies and associations are showing that they are eager to host business events again, it promises to be a busy year for our industry.

While events will continue to have some online activity, I believe that virtual events will lose ground to in-person events. Events will probably be hybrid: online combined with in-person elements. In the past couple of years, we have seen that people need face-to-face interaction, and in-person exhibitions and conferences are the ideal platforms for this.

Sustainability will continue to be an important issue in 2023. The Joint Meetings Industry Council, an international federation of business event associations, is spearheading the Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE) initiative, which aims to address climate change. The Event Greening Forum (EGF), a non-profit organisation promoting sustainable events, is driving the NZCE initiative locally and will continue to prioritise it in 2023.

Sandi Trotter, chairperson of International Exhibition Logistics Association (IELA)

The increase in business in North and South America, and in Western Europe, has been fast and furious, with volumes steadily increasing since spring 2022.

The pace of this resurrection was not predicted to be such a rapid upward trend. It is extremely encouraging to see the revival of the industry that was so devastated by the pandemic.

Our biggest challenge now is coping with supply chain and capacity issues. Reduced airline and sailing schedules as well as ground transportation shortages are causing major cost increases and extended transit times.

In addition, staffing is of major concern. Our labour force has been hit hard over the last two years and many experienced, valued employees have moved on to what they perceive to be more stable industries.

The push for Net Carbon Zero is another issue that is of great concern and one that is particularly challenging for our sector of the

industry. As we subcontract our transportation, we are at the mercy of our service providers (airlines, ocean lines and trucking companies) to meet this challenge. It will require cooperation and collaboration to live up to the goals.

Q4 and 2023 look to be reasonably robust for the industry. The desire is there from all players to revitalise and return to pre-pandemic volumes and so far, it seems to be working.

The drive required to continue the momentum is constant management and control of health and safety measures to ensure a large resurgence or new wave does not surface.

Comfort levels are currently very positive, but this pandemic is not over, and we must learn to work with the new procedures and restrictions it has brought.

There are parts of the world that are still very highly restricted and/or locked down and it will take time for them to recover and join the recovery.

The focus continues to be doing business, but now in a more flexible way that requires much more foresight into future developments.

Of primary importance, is educating our clients — exhibitors, organisers, and venues of the changes the pandemic has brought. Planning is key to ensure that all potential obstacles are examined and prepared for in advance — a very trying situation without a crystal ball.

LOCAL TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

Glenton de Kock, chief executive officer of Southern Africa Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI)

Economic experts expect ongoing inflation and subdued economic growth globally, which will impact how businesses make decisions, especially with regard to business events. In addition to that, the world is increasingly waking up to the fact that the climate disaster will pose a much bigger challenge than anything we have experienced in recent decades and will dwarf the challenges faced by the Covid pandemic.

This means that consumers are beginning to prefer businesses with the right environmental and social credentials, and buying trends are increasingly being driven by conscious consumers — those among us who prioritise factors such as ecological impact and sustainability when choosing who to buy from or do business with.

In 2023, companies need to make sure that their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) processes are moved to the centre of their strategy. This should begin with measuring the impact any business is having on society and the environment, and then move to increasing transparency, reporting, and accountability.

Within that context, an anticipated increase in delegate numbers to in-person meetings and events may come as no surprise for those in the trenches. Live events are back and are here to stay. But it’s not back to business as usual. In fact, it can’t be.

People-centric planning and approaches, with continuous innovation of event delivery that gives audiences what they want and need, will be important. As an example, wellness with more sensory quiet spaces in nature, or breakaway rooms that incorporate meditation, are what we can see more of.

While there is an accelerated resurgence of in-person events, some corporations are still pulling back their in-person plans to prioritise safety and save on costs.

Therefore, in 2023, planners will be searching for immersive studios that turn a dreaded ‘Zoom call’ or ‘Teams meeting’ into an awe-inspiring, seamless event that exceeds the audience’s expectations and spreads the message further than ever.

The industry has an opportunity, as we did in 2022 at Meetings Africa 2023, to set the framework on how we proceed.

We note that clients may become selective about the services they choose, based on a provider’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability efforts.

Morwesi Ramonyai, the Event Greening Forum (EGF) 2022

2022 in many ways didn’t differ too much from 2021 as a post-Covid recovery year. The year began just as slowly and, while there was a hasty pickup in business and market activity towards mid-year, the supply and demand mismatch soon became a glaring challenge. This was due to the reality that a lot of skills have moved on in many ways. To different sectors, different career paths, different countries and a lot lost due to natural attrition.

Market reconstitution

That being the case, a vacuum has also opened for new entrants in the eventing space. These would be smaller and more niche outfits. While some new dynamic players with new energy have an opportunity to dominate the space, one expects more collaboration by smaller businesses, to become larger entities.

Hybrid Events

While on the topic of events, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the entire eventing industry into virtual and eventually hybrid events. This is a development that can be expected to remain in Business Events. Hybrid technology is also improving at a fast pace and adoption is providing the necessary demand. For smaller events, the integration has become easier, simpler and cheaper over time and a recent EGF event successfully integrated Zoom and Facebook as the online parallel platforms and it proved to be the most cost-effective and efficient hybrid event to date.

ESG Focus

Another expectation from 2023 is a massive focus on ESG. The concept is finally taking shape in a way that the market understands, accepts, and can articulate more easily. The E-S-G pieces are finally falling into place together and no longer in silos. A surge in ESG consultancy is what we can expect. The traditional consulting houses will add the offering to their repertoire, as will the legal and financial houses. The

international ESG consultancies will also set their sights on South Africa. Careers in ESG inclusive of very senior positions in companies will also increase in demand, so there’s a great opportunity for greening and sustainability practitioners and consultants.

Climate Action

With the looming climate crisis, accountability, transparency and greater corporate responsibility is also what we can expect to see. Talk of Net-Zero and active target setting will take centrestage, as the race to be perceived as environmentally conscious wages on. Carbon footprint calculations can be expected to increase as businesses, projects, and events seek to understand their measured impact in an objective manner. Incidentally, business events also offer easy low hanging fruit for carbon reduction.

The recent carbon tax developments in South Africa will also be a critical driver towards the shift, which is good overall, because the winner is the climate after all. Overall, sustainability can expect an elevated position in the market, and it’s about time.

Sibusiso Mncwabe, chairperson of EXSA

2022 has been a turbulent, chaotic and often disorganised year for the industry as we re-emerged and opened for business. It is encouraging to see that there is great enthusiasm and attendance at both business and consumer events. This is a trend that will continue strongly, the end consumer is the ultimate beneficiary, and they are hungry for shows to take place.

Budgets will be very tight next year; there is much caution being exercised when it comes to costs incurred. Travel costs such as fuel and flights have increased dramatically, so everyone will have to look at doing business differently, such as reusing instead of purchasing.

Collaboration will be key in 2023, between suppliers themselves, as well as between organisers, venues, government and clients. The closer everyone works together, the more streamlined and effective the industry will become. The focus is definitely on quality over quantity, so working together will become the norm. Through Covid, many people branched off onto their own; this will see an emergence of many smaller entities with years of experience and knowledge. They will become an integral part of the chain. Mentorship and skills development of our youth is vital; there is a gap in the market for our younger generation to step in and take over in the future. There is a huge unemployment rate in South Africa and one of the ways to eradicate this is to develop learnership programmes in companies to provide on-the-job training. This way, there can be a distinct succession plan in place, which ensures longevity.

Focusing on greening is a huge area of interest. Becoming more aware of what we are doing to our environment and ensuring that we recycle, reuse and choose sustainable alternatives is going to be vitally important.

Holding companies and individuals responsible for non-delivery and bringing the industry into disrepute is also on EXSA’s agenda. Having a good relationship with venues and organisers is key in achieving this for the greater good of the whole industry. Communication is key and having an EXSA representative at build-up of as many shows as possible for problem solving and visibility is the goal.

Design fees are an ongoing project. We have made good progress this year, but will continue in our endeavors to ensure that a policy is put in place and that guidelines get followed by the industry.

EXSA will continue to guide, communicate, be present and continually make strides in the right direction that benefits its members. The members, as always, will be in the forefront of us making decisions and instituting changes that benefits them and the industry at large. We will continue to collaborate with organisers, venues and government departments, to ensure consistency and excellent service. 2023 is going to be the year of delivery!

Tes Proos, president of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (Site) Africa

The world of incentives, globally, is happily bouncing back. That said, the biggest success story is the US domestic market, as corporates are clamouring to reward their top performers. The challenge for Africa and southern Africa in particular, is that the US, UK and western European clients are keeping trips close to home.

With southern Africa being long-haul and the cost of flights having doubled over the past six months, we are seeing a bit of a slow return. However, the enquiries for inbound groups are doing really well and things are looking up from February 2023 and even more so from 2024 onwards.

With many factors affecting international travel, one thing that is working in South Africa’s favour, is the exchange rate, making the destination very affordable at the moment.

Recent research from the SITE Foundation, is that Africa is definitely more on buyers’ radars than before. They are looking for more unique and immersive experiences, making Africa a much more desirable destination. Whilst some are still looking for large, fully inclusive hotels with loads of glitz and glamour, there is a distinct shift to smaller groups and ‘up-close-and-personal’ experiences.

In addition, SITE Africa is expanding its footprint with new members across the continent, especially North Africa and we are looking forward to sharing new destination experiences and showcases during 2023. We are also happy to advise that there are now at least six online incentive travel courses for SITE members. One of our biggest objectives is to share education and training across the continent with developing destinations and new DMC’s.

SITE is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023 and the global conference will take place from 17-20 February 2023 and promises to be a stellar event with talks, workshops and panel discussions sharing global experiences and learning. All in all, we are looking forward to a blessed and productive 2023!

Devi Paulsen-Abbott, chair, AAXO and vice president, dmg events

2023 will see a greater focus on ensuring that events create really meaningful engagements, which may mean reshaping how organisers connect their buyers and sellers. Audiences are looking for meaningful connection opportunities such as matchmaking programmes and intimate networking. Larger, extravagant receptions and dinners will be less likely for many exhibitions, due to budget constraints and audience appetite.

Quality over quantity

Whilst foot traffic at events remains a key performance metric for organising teams, organisers will need to adjust focus and efforts in improving the quality of their attending audience to ensure right-fit collaboration and networking opportunities. Outreach will need to be more personalised and a bigger focus on value will need to be articulated.

Greater localisation of participation, based on geography

Organisers will need to manage expectations around the geographic profile of visitors, given the rising cost of passenger air travel in South Africa, which has increased by almost 50 per cent over the past 12 months (due to the pent-up demand and the closure of several domestic airlines). This is going to have a substantial impact on geographic reach and participation of visitors (and possibly exhibitors) whose ability to travel domestically may be stifled due to the cost and capacity of travel.

The business of marketing is becoming increasingly complex

80 per cent of people on earth will have a digital presence online by 2023. (Source: Quantumrun’s 422 predictions for 2023). To give a comparable figure, at December 2015, the global digital presence was just over 40 per cent!

Our digital and physical lives have become inextricably linked, and this will continue to grow in importance. This trend applies to how organisers will be engaging with their exhibitors and visitors, pre-/during- and post-event as well as how organisers position their events in their customers’ marketing mix.

Research by Statista shows that social commerce is on the rise for 2023 and not slowing down any time soon. Although anecdotal, event organisers too are no stranger to this trend, with their ads being created to fit seamlessly into social media feeds and integrating transactional platforms into social channels.

ESG embedded in exhibitions

There is enormous support for a sustainable shift in the events industry. We are seeing a lot more focus on working with a circular economy, sourcing responsibly, achieving social value and reducing the carbon footprint of an event.

Ellen Oosthuizen, chairperson of PCO Alliance Network

Since the President removed the regulatory wearing of masks in April 2022 and opening events to 100 per cent capacity, our industry began to buzz. It felt as though we were jumping off the starting blocks.

We experienced last minute bookings, with the demand for corporates to get together in-person. Our industry stakeholders are now inundated with events and this trend will increase in 2023 as people receive more holistic value by attending in-person.

Hybrid events will continue as an option for events, maximising on the fact that they allow local and international attendees to avoid the very expensive travel costs we are seeing in the current economic climate.

Over the past year, venues have become hybrid-ready to accommodate this trend and will continue in 2023 and into the future.

Corporates have become very budget conscious due to the continuous increase in fuel hikes, travel and operational costs of businesses. Pricing is going to be key, and venues and suppliers will have to work together with organisers to be able to make a profit.

Another prediction for 2023 is event greening. Sustainability and becoming more environmentally friendly has moved to the top of the events industry agenda. Event organisers, venues and suppliers are reviewing their processes to become more sustainable. We need to educate our clients as well and drive event greening in 2023. Workshops and webinars must be hosted to educate the events and hospitality industries.

We need to continue to remain positive. The ‘new normal’ is here and our industry has become very busy. International events have been open since last year — this year WTM took place in London in November, and the Soccer World Cup in Doha, began in late November.

With Meetings Africa and Travel Indaba scheduled to take place in South Africa again in 2023, I feel hopeful that we will have normality back in the events and tourism industries and we will attract international stakeholders again.

Let’s build up the industry together to an even better 2023 for business events and tourism.

CONVENTION BUREAUX

Rendani Khorommbi, deputy director: Johannesburg Convention Bureau

Needless to say, we’ve weathered an unpredictable two years of setbacks and surprises, delivered via the global Covid-19 pandemic. However, there is an immense feeling of enthusiasm and hopefulness that we’re through the worst phase in a period which had brought the globe to a halt — and had a profound impact on industries and economies.

As far as resuming our efforts to secure business events activities, throughout the past year we’ve had constructive engagements with our industry peers, colleagues and associates at national, provincial and local level in an attempt to maximise business tourism opportunities through collaboration.

This has borne fruit and, in spite of limitations, we successfully hosted the AI EXPO at the Sandton Convention Centre in September. Furthermore, we’re closing 2022 on a high, by supporting a handful of business events, including the Black Management Forum Annual Policy Conference 2022, along with the World Associations for Small & Medium Enterprises (WASME) 26th International Conference on Small & Medium Enterprises (ICSME), to mention just a few.

Come January 2023, it’s straight down to business, when Johannesburg Convention Bureau hosts the International Federation for Information Technology, Travel and Tourism (IFITT) ENTRE23 e-Tourism Conference from 17-20 January 2023. This is followed by Meetings Africa a month later in February, which is hosted in partnership with South African Tourism and Gauteng Tourism Authority.

Amongst many business events that will be hosted in Johannesburg in 2023, Johannesburg Convention Bureau is proud to be partnering with the University of Johannesburg to host the Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research (KBS) in Johannesburg from 5-9 June 2023.

The impact of the pandemic on all of us has been immense. From a Johannesburg perspective alone, prior to it taking hold, our city had recorded just above 4.2 million visitor arrivals, while achieving sixth (6th place) in the top 10 city destinations index in the Middle East and Africa. This is according to Euromonitor International 2019. In the aforesaid rankings, the city follows Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Mecca (Saudi Arabia), Medina (Saudi Arabia), Cairo (Egypt) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).

However, while our world has changed dramatically since March 2020, staging these significant national and global business events with our industry partners is a significant milestone in our efforts to reignite business events in Johannesburg.

In line with the prioritisation of achieving increased visitor arrivals in the city and contributing towards our growth targets, the city of Johannesburg’s strategic objective in relation to tourism remains to promote Johannesburg as a leading lifestyle and business destination in Africa, with a global competitive edge, thereby helping to:

• Improve seasonality, length of stay and tourist spend during visits to the city. In 2018, Johannesburg witnessed an improved average length of stay of 10.7 days for international visitors and 2.7 days for domestic visitors. Average overall spend per Johannesburg tourist was pegged at R8,471, reflecting a 7.4 per cent average annual growth and achieving R43,7 billion tourism expenditure in Johannesburg. We need to get back to this growth trajectory and together we can, in collaboration with business and the private sector.

• Improve a diversified tourism offering in the city by means of enhancing tourism supply and catalysing demand to effect tourism multipliers.

• Build a positive image for the city amongst domestic, regional and international target markets as basis of good reputation management.

• Most notably, business events is one of the identified niche development areas in the recently approved tourism strategy in April 2021, therefore we are guaranteed more focus in the subsector by the city. A case in point is a collaboration embarked on between the city and SAACI with effect from 20 May 2021.

We’re on the right track and look forward to a brighter year ahead!

VENUES

Lindiwe Rakharebe, chief executive officer of Durban ICC

The dark clouds have lifted. The sun is shining brightly again. With the relaxation of all Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (business events) industry is again working hard to sign-up business events.

Despite being severely impacted by the pandemic, the global business events industry is expected to enjoy significant growth for the period 2021-2028.

According to research done by Research Dive, the global market is expected to hit $1.619-billion (R28.332-billion) by 2028.

The Durban International Convention Centre has already noticed a drastic improvement in revenue in the last fiscal, when compared to the June 2021 financial results. This positive trajectory indicates an upturn in economic recovery within the hospitality sector and bodes well for business in 2023.

The Durban ICC posted revenue of R108.9-million for this fiscal which signifies a considerable improvement, when compared to the R20.4-million realised during the previous fiscal. This was achieved by introducing Durban ICC-owned events, event partnerships as well as by hosting hybrid and virtual events.

The Durban ICC sales and business team has also been focused on better understanding the needs of customers, streamlining processes, and tailor-making packages to enhance event experiences. Diligent management, aggressive marketing and sales strategies, and greater efficiencies, have all contributed to our success.

While in-person events have historically been the preferred medium, looking at 2023 and beyond, it appears the business events industry will be dealing with hybrid events for years to come, and if attendees have been experiencing well-run virtual events, they could potentially want to continue tuning in from home should they be unable to travel far in the future. As such, a hybrid or virtual event with engaging educational content and networking opportunities would go far in the current climate.

The Durban ICC has been proactive in reinventing itself by hosting hybrid and virtual events as an alternative use for the complex. Live events paired with hybrid events have undoubtedly been the key to rebuilding the revenue for the 2021/2022 financial year, a trend that will sustain into the future. The advantage of hybrid events is that they combine the best of virtual and in-person gatherings, providing a format that allows event organisers to safely bring back live experiences, while still gaining the benefits of a digital event platform.

Due to interruptions in business activities and the resultant stagnant or reduced budgets, companies and business event organisers are now more price-conscious when it comes to business events. Business events venues must offer more affordable options.

The world has changed and one of the outcomes of the global Covid-19 pandemic is that people have become more health-conscious. Business events venues must relook at the catering component to ensure new demands from more discerning customers are fulfilled.

In this regard, Durban ICC is focusing on lighter, healthier meal options and making use of their many unique outdoor and open-air spaces. Delegates will delight in enjoying an authentically African braai (barbecue) under the stars in our beautiful Fig Tree Courtyard, or sample superbly prepared Indian cuisine options from our popular modern buffet stations. The culinary team plays a major role when it comes to ROI and works closely with meeting planners from around the world to ensure that they are able to cater for all dietary tastes and requirements.

The topic of safety will continue to be prominent throughout the MICE industry for many years to come. While there may not be pre-screening requirements, socially-distanced layouts and protective personal equipment, expect that there will be greater surveillance on health and wellness.

Venues for large business meetings must also become accustomed to providing personalised experiences. To attract business events, organisers and venues need to be open to customising events to meet the specific needs of clients such as seating arrangements, food and beverages.

The principal focus for the Durban ICC in 2023 and beyond is to continuously provide world-class customer service to its clients, both local and international. It is for this reason that the team strives to maintain the Durban ICC culture of warmth and hospitality that it is known for. People are the main contributors to the Durban ICC’s success — they always ensure that each guest leaves the Durban ICC happy and satisfied with the service received.

Robert Hatton-Jones, general manager: commercial of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC)

An overview of 2022

During the first quarter of 2022, business events were dictated by the Covid government regulations in place.

South Africa was on adjusted Level 1 restrictions, which permitted only events of up to 1,000 pax, which was further adjusted in March, committing venues to host up to 50 per cent capacity, which still prohibited larger events from taking place.

From February 2022, we saw an increase in the number of events, and we hosted the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Africa Energy Indaba and The Ultimate Beverage Expo. The second quarter of 2022 heralded a noticeable positive booking trend, with many of our larger events returning for the first time since the start of the pandemic, such as the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, Decorex, Enlit Africa and the Two Oceans Marathon.

Due to no restrictions in place for the third quarter, the positive trend continued, which indicated optimism and confidence in the business events industry, with the majority of events returning. The start of the last quarter of 2022 also reflects positive growth, with our recovery well underway. We have hosted Africa Oil Week, Mama Magic Expo, AfricaCom, to name a few.

The numbers tell the story. In 2021 we hosted 126 events with approximately 15,000 delegates and in 2022, to date, we have hosted 303 events with approximately 202,000 delegates. Some interesting trends have emerged post the pandemic. We have observed that the booking lead time for events has reduced significantly and that our clients require more flexibility. Although ecofriendly event practices and ‘going green’ has been on the table for a while, in 2022, there has been a renewed focus on climate change, which has moved to the forefront with environment, social and governance now being a top priority. Another post-pandemic trend is the adoption of hybrid events, with most events streaming content and leveraging every format to boost delegate numbers, including in-person, virtual and hybrid.

Prediction for the business event industry for 2023

We believe that the business events industry will recover to pre-pandemic levels during 2023. At the CTICC, our forward book is very positive, and we expect to operate at pre-pandemic levels, with our large international and national events returning, such as Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Africa Travel Week, with the key highlight being the Netball World Cup 2023.

Across all sectors, organisations are grappling with rapid transformation. On top of that, there are global shifts and challenges to contend with, such as climate change, and shifting political and economic power. Every organisation needs to commit to reducing its carbon footprint. The way we work is constantly evolving, with younger people entering the workforce, as well as more remote workers.

What the pandemic period taught us is resilience, flexibility, agility and the ability to think ‘out of the box’ and adapt to change by being innovative. As the CTICC moves into the third decade since its establishment, we have been working hard to reimagine and redefine our future, to serve our business and larger communities.

Shaun Bird, general manager of Sandton Convention Centre

As 2022 comes to a close, we wish everyone in the meetings industry, a peaceful and restful Christmas season.

To our hotel and leisure colleagues, here’s hoping for a bumper season. We wish them the best, may they get very little rest and make the most of open beaches and a flood of visitors.

Moving swiftly into 2023, the signs are pointing in the right direction.

Confidence in the market is key to any industry, and while we have the usual negative economic and social challenges, the events industry is proving to be resilient. This is a sign of our creativity and ‘never say die’ attitude.

Let’s all hope for the best but plan for the worst, especially when it comes to Eskom. It is probably the greatest risk we face right now and probably long into the future. How we handle this, as a business and as an industry, is going to either make or break us.

But… let’s remain positive…

The first two quarters of 2023, show a reasonable continuation of the recovery. I am very optimistic that Q3 and Q4 will bring us back to levels close to 2019.

Exhibitions are on the up, and the confidence to commit and deliver, has been a feature of forward bookings for 2023. The SMME sector has taken the biggest knock. There is no doubt that collaboration will continue into the new year, and hopefully bear fruit.

The conference and meeting outlook is positive, and the trend of seeking even better value for money will continue to be top-of-mind for customers. The efficiencies, that the industry has been forced to find, will stand us in good stead.

In conclusion, while it will still take some time for our sector to fully recover, the overall signs are positive.

Have a wonderful festive season, and I look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible in 2023.

Bronwen Cadle de Ponte, general manager of the CSIR ICC

The global Covid-19 pandemic will arguably go down as the most disruptive catastrophe in the business events industry on a local, national, and international level. Disruptions cannot only be marked as negative, for the reason that, despite the huge tragedies of economic decline, there were some valuable lessons to be learned as well as tremendous opportunities which have emerged and the significant progress we have made as we were under duress to do so.

Due to the uncertainty during the peak of the pandemic, and the resulting adversity to risk, clients have adopted the 11th-hour booking decision-making, and this still prevails. Venues need to adapt to shorter lead times, flexibility, and agility to evade the turbulence of the market.

Hybrid events demand will continue to form part of events and the technological innovation to support this will be exciting to watch — if the prices of this technology do not begin coming down, hybrid may not turn out to be as popular as some predict. We are already beginning to see clients opt for recording and availability online after the event instead of full hybrid, due to the high cost of full hybrid. Be that as it may, creating a content-rich and exceptional event experience will be an even more important focus for event planners to drive in-person meeting attendance.

More importantly, sustainability – event health and safety, waste management, as well as energy demand management – will be at the forefront of discussions, with the need to accelerate the transition towards global net zero emissions for the events industry.

The CSIR ICC has implemented several social and environmental responsibility initiatives and has trained staff and partnered with relevant service providers to proactively promote green conferences to clients who share its commitment towards the environment by reducing the environmental impact of their events hosted at the ICC.

We continue to review our products and services to have an improved, unique and attractive market offering despite the medium in which they take place (virtual, physical, social distancing or not.) Such an approach has allowed us to accommodate the everchanging consumer patterns that will undoubtedly continue in the year 2023.

Charles Wilson, chief executive officer of Gallagher Convention Centre

Sitting down to pen my predictions – or rather my hopes – for the business events industry for 2023, I looked at some of my predictions over the past few years, and what an interesting time we have had!

2023 will see growth for the business events industry. We will see exhibition floor space grow close to that of pre-pandemic success. Visitor confidence is restored, with the public looking forward to attending their favourite events. As much as the visitor numbers might be lower than the 2019 benchmark, the trade show organisers I have engaged with have all indicated that the quality of visitors has improved, with orders placed and leads generated at shows rivalling the figures of 2019.

In the coming year, we will see an uptick in road-show events. Event organisers are ready for this crucial business-to-business platform to resume. We will begin seeing more conferences with a larger number of delegates.

At Gallagher Convention Centre, we are noticing a trend toward more conferences, but conferences with an entertaining or a fun aspect. In my opinion, we will see a lot of requests for twists on a classic in the coming year. Such as creative and retro refreshment options rather than the classic options. I foresee a lot of innovative approaches to conference seating, like raked seating or speciality furniture.

Catering for conferences has become more of a focal point, with organisers focusing more on ‘fun’ foods such as food truck concepts and more carnivalstyle presentations. Never forgetting the healthier options. With that in mind, Gallagher had launched its concept stations, just before Covid, with customdesigned menus on offer. Ensuring the days of triangle sandwiches are where they belong — in the past.

In the future, event organisers will focus increasingly on keeping the environmental impact of their events to a minimum. We will continue to see a shift towards more environmentally-friendly décor and packaging.

With the current infrastructure challenges in mind, event organisers will seek peace of mind in 2023. They will have to rely on suppliers and venues that can offer service despite constant load-shedding and water cuts. At Gallagher Convention Centre, we offer a full generator backup service as well as a million-litre backup water tank.

In 2023 venues and suppliers will have to offer creative solutions to clients looking to reinvent the experience for their guests.

EXHIBITION ORGANISERS

Carol Weaving, managing director, RX Africa

2022 was the year wherein events once again flourished in South Africa as well as globally. International surveys have showed that a whopping 88 percent of companies were planning more events and team gatherings in 2022. Larger exhibitions also gained momentum this year.

While ‘hybrid’ was still a prominent trend for events in 2022, this is beginning to take a backseat, and we’re expecting more in-person events and face-to-face meetings in 2023. Although hybrid formats and the supporting technology remain important, all of RX Africa’s 2023 events will take place as live shows only. We are purposefully moving away from a hybrid offering as the main takeaway from 2022 has been that nothing can replace face-to-face interactions.

Besides a return to face-to-face events, the three biggest exhibition trends for South Africa in 2023 will be sustainability, personalisation, and 365-engagement.

Over the past seven years, RX Africa has seen a large shift in people’s cognisance around sustainability and its importance. We expect this awareness around sustainability to continue to grow and amplify in 2023.

People’s awareness around sustainability in their daily activities is more evident now than ever before. This trend will be keenly seen in events and exhibitions as well. At RX Africa, we have noted an uptick in demand for stands manufactured with upcycled goods that can be repurposed across several exhibitions. Offsetting one’s carbon footprint at events has also become more important.

Sustainability has been a core focus for RX Africa for years. Events like Africa Travel Week no longer have printed show catalogues but rather digital guides that are hosted on a website and places signage around the event with a QR code to obtain access. Visitor bags at several of our shows have also been done away with as these often landed up in the bin. We have also noticed that the majority of our exhibitors don’t have printed collateral either and their corporate gifting is limited. Some gifting is sustainable too!

Instead of hybrid, 365-engagement will become increasingly important in 2023. A trade show is no longer a once-off event, that requires the event organiser to build a community of engaged attendants and connect with them throughout the year. As such, technology is another important factor in the exhibition space. Technology plays a crucial part in creating new, exciting, and immersive audience experiences, and we have seen the demand for technology grow exponentially.

Lastly, events in 2023 will be highly personalised. To attract the right audience, exhibitions need to have personalised and targeted communication and content. Connecting with your customers on a personal level will help you build a good rapport with them and build the 365-community that is necessary in 2023.

Projeni Pather, managing director

The excitement of getting our shows on the ground this year was palpable. The opportunity to stimulate business in different sectors by reigniting the exhibition industry was a ray of hope we all had been waiting for. But it has not been easy; rebuilding the industry presented organisers with multiple challenges. From securing the right dates and venues, exhibitors moving budgets to other marketing platforms, upskilling and rehiring personnel, and convincing visitors to leave the comfort of their homes/offices and attend exhibitions, we have had to rebuild the foundation for our industry. Evidently, the demand for exhibitions still exists, but the value proposition has changed.

Despite the bleak prospect of the continued recession in 2023 – a reality we can choose to wallow in – we could choose to rather embrace the opportunities a new year bestows. Re-establishing the foundation that exhibitions are built on requires us to meaningfully reconnect with our stakeholders.

We must steer our stakeholders back to the value exhibitions offer their businesses, which calls for a purposeful education drive. We cannot assume that our customers will come back onto the floor at the drop of a rate card, email newsletter, or promotion. Two years have been lost to other marketing platforms where customers sought to replace exhibitions. It is vital to re-educate clients on the opportunities and benefits that exhibitions offer, to ensure they move their budgets back onto the exhibition floor.

Stakeholders’ expectations are changing, and they want more value for their spend. The pandemic has significantly changed the landscape; what worked pre-Covid may not always work now. We must engage with our customers to understand their new needs, how their companies have evolved, their new business environment, and the industry challenges they face, to provide them with the right solution. We will not retain customers if we adopt a ‘one-size fits all’ strategy.

Technology has enveloped society tenfold in the past three years. But we can rest assured that despite the many attempts to host exhibitions online during this time, technology will never replace the inherent value of a handshake, along with the smell, sounds and sights a face-to-face exhibition beholds. Technology does, however, present us with the opportunity to enhance our customers’ participation, making the experience simpler, better, and faster. Ultimately, clever usage of technology on the show floor is key to facilitating better business for our customers.

VENUES

Craig Newman, chief executive officer of GL events South Africa Group

We entered 2022 with caution and hope. Around the end of 2021, the pandemic restrictions began to be lifted gradually. More restrictions were lifted as 2022 continued, and, by June of this year, even the mask requirement had been withdrawn entirely. All of this was obviously good news for the business events industry, which depends heavily on the ability of people to gather. As 2022 continued we noticed a consistent rise in business opportunities as the sector began to recover. The return was unquestionably taking place, and a few bigger events near the end of 2022 seemed to solidify the year’s success in the business eventing sector.

With restrictions being lifted for the number of people allowed to attend any given event, we have also seen annual events that have been delayed for a long time, finally scheduled in for 2023, an indication that while this year may not have been at full steam, 2023 may be. Will these events look the same as they did in the past? Probably not. Events these days often include a hybrid model of live attendance mixed with a digital stream, in contrast to pre-pandemic events where the focus was on getting everyone into the same room. We can anticipate seeing more of the same in the future as both businesses and event attendees have grown accustomed to this model, which offers greater flexibility.

Without a doubt, this shift in normalcy means that business events organisers, event managers and entertainers must be on board with the idea of not only hosting a captive audience but also of keeping things interesting for their audiences.

Having said that, it has also been encouraging to see how positively people have responded to the return of in-person events, which has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the need for face-to-face events has not been completely replaced by digitised events. The best way to reach your target audience, build brand awareness, discover new distribution channels, showcase your products, and generate sales is still through live events.

In the upcoming year, we anticipate seeing an increase in events that will boost the industry’s business opportunities and create a greater number of job opportunities, with an immediate positive effect on the national economy.

While busy, 2023 is expected to challenge business events companies to up their game, tailor their events and deliver more value for clients than ever before, and we look forward to that challenge.

Alexia Swart, managing director of Barmotion

2022 has been the kind of year that makes predicting trends quite difficult. With the entire industry picking up the slack after Covid, it’s been unusual in all sorts of ways. The industry has lost a lot of talent and some businesses have sadly closed up shop — pushing demand for services up and lead times down. Businesses are consolidating smaller events, that might be scattered across the calendar, into single larger events, and taking advantage of economies of scale.

2023 is going to see the foot coming off the accelerator — especially here in the event industry where it feels like we’ve been working at 110 per cent for the past 12 months. Global economic movements and other macroeconomic factors will be buffeting economies everywhere; but, closer to home, event industry suppliers will need to consolidate their businesses and adapt to more flexible working practices.

We’ve secured some fantastic new clients, many of whom are new entrants to exhibitions and events. We will be taking the time to develop those relationships.

South Africa is in a great place at the moment, in terms of the ease with which everyone has adopted 21st century communication. There’s a much greater togetherness in our virtual groups and less formality that really puts us head and shoulders above much of the world in getting things done online. The pandemic has put us in a more collective mindset, and the collaborative networks we established then, are still active now. Whether this trend will slowly revert back to a ‘dog-eat-dog’ business practice remains to be seen, but we’re not letting go of the idea.

Food has always had fads, but free-from, vegan and vegetarian options are no longer ‘nice-to-haves’, they’re essential. There is a necessity for choice but offering the luxury of choice is a big part of making people feel well looked after too, suggesting the trend for unusual and artisanal food and drink will continue. Developing strong thematic and content-led links between brands and hospitality remains key, whether we are taking on brand ambassador responsibilities, or delivering logo-matching colour customisation. It’s an important part of delivering a whole experience rather than just a service.

And of course, the big challenge of Net-Zero means the industry is going to have to make some colossal changes in the next 10 years — so innovations and growth will be led by the businesses that embrace Net-Zero now. Corporate clients and event businesses will be looking for low-carbon alternatives to every part of their supply chain and will want suppliers that understand and meet that need.

Presley Mokotedi, director of Garona Communications and Projects

2022 has been a bright light of positivity, for the exhibition industry in South Africa. The year started with Meetings Africa, and with many other exhibitions returning face-to-face. Africa Travel Indaba also returned in 2022.

The year 2022 has been great for the exhibition business; the recovery has been phenomenal. We also saw a positive return of international exhibitors and international visitors to the bigger exhibitions.

Some of the shows that need to be commended for bringing in international exhibitors and visitors are: Mining Indaba and Africa’s Travel Indaba, Electra Mining Africa and Nampo. These and many more have been instrumental in driving new business and investment into the country.

Africa Aerospace and Defence also took place this year. It remains one of the largest expos in our country.

The Rand Show also took place in 2022 and saw many exhibitors and visitors return.

2023

The year 2023 is showing much promise, with most of the shows that took place in 2022 returning in 2023. We are here to assist organisers and exhibitors.

Meetings Africa 2023 will once again kick start the new year. Garona Communications and Projects remains the preferred service provider for both Meetings Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba 2023.

I predict that we will see more international exhibitions in the new year.

We wish everyone a good break during the festive season and look forward to a high energy, productive 2023.

DMCs and INCENTIVE HOUSES

Michael Waller, managing director of Dragonfly Africa

I believe that we can expect air travel costs to normalise. International travel is not sustainable at the current pricing. There has been a positive resurgence of travel from our markets and although some way off where we were in Feb 2020, there is a strong desire to travel with many corporates putting forward strong budgets.

As demand picks up, more competition will come on board, and I think this will ultimately drive prices down. Whilst the Ukraine situation and world economy post the pandemic are contributors, I believe prices are largely being driven by supply and demand.

We need to be conservative with budgets, probably more so for 2024 than 2023, especially for incentive travel, as the recession will no doubt play a part. For ethical reasons, companies may hold back on ‘exotic’ reward trips such as from our long-haul markets, due to layoffs or cost cutting and the perceptions around non-essential travel. For 2023, we are still servicing postponed trips from the Covid years and quite a lot of pent-up demand.

That being said, the weak rand is still very much a draw card for international travel. From recent travel abroad to the USA and our Indian Ocean competitors, it is obvious that South Africa remains extremely good value for money, especially for food and beverage. A decent bottle of white wine enjoyed at The Palace hotel this month, a property which has recently undergone hundreds of millions of rands in refurbishment, can be had for just over R300.

Wildlife, cultures and diminishing natural spaces, will continue to rise to the top of travellers’ bucket lists. A trip to the Sabi Sands, Mara or Rwanda, for example, will become a priority over man-made experiences. Many people want to experience these and have identified them as way in the future big-ticket wish list items and will possibly move them ahead of more affordable or non-threatened experiences such as city travel or sporting events.

Security concerns in emerging markets where the pandemic and world economy have impacted the most, will likely be a deterrent to visit a country like South Africa. We have a struggling police force falling way short of community needs. We need to put out a positive message, but also be cautious and wise about where we direct our clients.

Education at grassroots level about the value of tourism is crucial and to make that effective, the economic benefits through employment and opportunity need to be experienced, enjoyed and understood at all levels, especially communities having a direct impact on key tourism locations such as Kruger Park, or Table Mountain, to mention the obvious.

Even with reasonably positive growth from our markets, such as the USA and UK, we only see a return to revenues on a par with 2020 levels, in four to five years from now. Working smarter will be essential, and a lot gentler on our resources, will be desired and hopefully achievable.

Daryl Keywood, managing director at Walthers

I imagine that our experiences in 2022 were much like those of the rest of our industry, in other words — a mixed bag. At Walthers, our business events business started to see traction from May and, with the easing of restrictions on gatherings, it was good to be back in the CTICC and SCC with large events. Our international postponements finally started to travel, although a couple have pushed out to 2023. Short-notice bookings for Q4 have put us above our profit expectations for the year.

The return to busy times was challenging, especially with reduced resources. I am incredibly proud of our team for delivering to our expected high standards, as expressed by our post-event evaluations and the many

Most of our key markets have shown recovery to at least 50 per cent of prepandemic levels. The lack of flights from Brazil is, however, impacting this once strong inbound market, especially on the incentive side. LATAM’s announcement of a return mid 2023 will make a huge difference as South Africa offers great value and is popular with Brazilian clients. Fingers crossed that there is no further delay in flights returning, as pent-up demand from Brazil is strong.

Looking ahead, we expect 2023 to be better than 2022 based on business currently confirmed and proposals being worked on. The pipeline looks good, but can we trust it?

Based on the past two years we are still being cautious and, although we do not expect outright cancellations, the numbers qualifying for especially incentive groups are hard to gauge at present. Inflationary pressures around the world will impact disposable income spend on cars and other high-cost items. This could affect automotive dealer and other manufacturer incentives. Budgets are still tight and the impact of fuel costs on airfares for an already expensive long-haul destination like ours adds to the cost pressure. We desperately need to simplify the e-visa process, clarify the proposed SARS Traveller Declaration System and address perceptions on visitor safety.

Clients are more demanding and expect concessions but on the other hand, suppliers having scraped through the pandemic need to rebuild and so we see more negotiation on costs than in the past. Relationships with suppliers are being tested but we have bonded more closely with our partners during the difficult times and will together find solutions.

The coming year won’t be easy, but it should be a vast improvement on the past few years and, by being nimble and flexible, we will successfully navigate 2023.

David Sand, chief executive officer of Uwin Iwin

As a full-service incentive agency, we were really glad to see outbound incentive travel really explode back to full swing, with some additional growth in 2022. The much talked about pent up demand for travel, became a reality with excited and very delighted incentive winners relishing in the ability to be able to travel again and explore the world. We did experience that service

Global IRF (Incentive Research Foundation) research confirms that incentive travel is back on the cards in a significant way and still a very in demand corporate motivational tool to drive business results and company culture.

SITE Incentive Trend Survey also shows that inflationary and post pandemic cost structures have risen significantly, with airline and staffing costs seeing the most significant increases.

2022 has also been extremely negative for the Rand exchange rate to most currencies; this will again impact Dollar and Euro based destinations for outbound incentive travel, making it more expensive, but possibly making South Africa, as a destination, more affordable for inbound options.

Our 2023 outlook at this stage is conservatively optimistic with good secured business and opportunities for growth. This scenario, however, is carefully weighted against a very unstable and unpredictable global economic and political backdrop. Local and International corporate customers are counting every cent they spend to ensure that the best value for money and smartest returns are gained in their business events spend. To this end, it is not only a sharp price that customers are shopping for but a supply partner that can advise intelligently, reduce risk, implement creatively and effectively.

Incentive trends that we believe will grow in 2023 are the continued demand for highly customised and personalised experiences; incorporation of meaningful socially responsible activities, inclusion of sustainability throughout the project lifespan; increasing use of technology and digital tools.

My hope for 2023 is that our business events industry will continue to collaborate locally and across the African continent to raise our standards, safety, security and experiences for our end-users and guests.