SAEC NEWS
Challenging times in the events industry 2020 was a year that we in the tourism and events industry will never forget. The Covid-19 virus is dominating world news and the ensuing lock down period is a gravely difficult time globally. Our industry was hit the hardest worldwide.
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By Ellen Oosthuizen, chairperson of SA Events Council
n the 25 years I’ve been in business, this was the last thing that I thought would happen to our industry. I was thinking of retiring but did not envisage ending my career like this. The tourism and events industry stretches over a vast area – and we are campaigning for all to open their doors again - events, exhibitions, concerts, tourism, venues, weddings and hospitality. Everyone in the industry has had to actively implement all protocols to safeguard ourselves, our staff, our 28 Business Events Africa March 2021
families and our working environment/s. Our focus has shifted from the everyday running of our businesses to ways of supporting safe, healthy and involved employees, suppliers and other stakeholders. Apart from the safety guidelines, we encountered another major hurdle: technology. Venues, event organisers, audio visual companies – even travel agents – had to quickly upskill themselves on unfamiliar technology. Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and the like entered our
homes and offices overnight. Sales executives had to keep us updated on their venues online, teambuilding got creative and offered online sessions, conferences/awards and other events suddenly had to be taken online and it was a very steep learning curve for all of us. Clients incurred extra costs in ensuring that the online sound was as professional as it would have been in-person, extra equipment needed to be brought in and the requirement that Wi-Fi needed to be sufficiently strong and www.businesseventsafrica.com
