EDITOR’S COMMENT

Nitta Sukha, South Africa National Convention Bureau and your’s truly attending Meetings Africa 2022.

2022 – The year of possibilities

This year has certainly begun with much promise.

After two years – of what remains a surreal dream – the business events industry is back in action.

The industry is buzzing, and everyone is ready to recoup what was lost. The positivity was palpable at the recent Meetings Africa. Well done to the South Africa National Convention Bureau for making the brave call to go ahead with the in-person show! Of course, there was a virtual element too, for those who couldn’t attend in person.

It was so good to be back on the floor at Meetings Africa and to reconnect with industry friends after such a long pause. I must say, initially, it was daunting to me, being in a hall filled with people, but the strange ‘fear’ of the unknown was quickly replaced with much happiness when seeing everyone again, and it felt like it was the beginning of 2019 again!

The business events industry has much to do to get back what it lost, but I’m sure our sector is up for the challenge. We always are!

What is exciting to see is how active South African Tourism has been, through the South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) in launching new campaigns to reignite the South African business events industry to the world.

This year, the SANCB celebrates 10 years! Wow! What a journey it has been. In this issue of BEA, we look back at the past decade and ahead at the forthcoming years.

It has been an honour for me to witness the SANCB grow from strength to strength under the leadership of Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo. I was at the launch of the SANCB at Meetings Africa 2012 and it has exceeded all expectations.

The pandemic did not prevent the SANCB from staying on course. During the past two years, the SANCB has continued its quest for new bids and has achieved much success on this front.

Currently, the world has changed, yet the fundamentals have remained. People have the need to meet, and after two years, the need for face-to-face meetings is even more necessary than ever before. Yes, the requirement of the hybrid model, will remain.

However, nothing will ever replace meeting someone for the first time, in person, at a conference or on an exhibition floor. The knowledge exchange, the interaction, the networking is what makes it all the more valuable. It’s just not the same on a virtual platform. Don’t get me wrong, the virtual platform serves a purpose and if it weren’t for these platforms, we wouldn’t have been able to continue meeting during the past two years.

Over the next couple of months, I look forward to reconnecting with more industry friends in person.

Here’s to the year of possibilities!

Irene

Email: gomesi@iafrica.com