Meetings Africa 2020

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© OneTwo Photography

In recent years, the global meetings industry has begun to recognise Africa as a sought after destination.

Meetings Africa showcases Africa’s diverse offering of services and products where African associations and African meetings industry professionals can partner to help transform our continent.

Who Attends? • National, provincial and local tourism authorities • African Tourism authorities and products • Convention and visitor bureaus • Conference and exhibition centres • Hotels and accommodation providers • Destination management companies • Event management specialists • Professional conference organisers • Transportation companies • Business events service providers • Cruise liners • Spa resorts • Trade associations • Travel trade publications

Building on Success Over the years, the South Africa has hosted many high-profile events – such as the historic World Cup in 2010, World Aids Conference, COP 17, World Economic Forum – that have greatly enhanced the stature of South Africa in the eyes of the world. More importantly, these events contributed significantly to the country’s economic growth. At Meetings Africa it was revealed that business tourism contributed an astonishin R115-billion to the country’s economy, underlining an incontrovertible fact – business tourists spend more than leisure tourists; their money is commonly spent at hotels, conference centres, restaurants, country clubs and convention centres.

Consequently, the benefits of the MICE sector can be felt in many South African industries: healthcare, mining, academia, to name a few. In essence, the meetings industry is a key component of the knowledge economy since it facilitates the sharing of knowledge, collaboration and information dissemination.

Meetings Africa is no exception. It has enabled African decision-makers to keep abreast with what their counterparts in other parts of the world are doing, thereby lending one huge voice to a continent many rightly regard as dynamic and ripe for further growth.

A Shared Economy Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, the Chief Conventions Bureau Officer, knows fullwell the importance of Meetings Africa and particularly delighted about the event’s 15th year milestone. “Meetings Africa is geared to enhance the collaboration between African countries and African associations so as to create more shared economic benefits for the continent’s MICE sector, it is where the world comes to buy Africa.”

For the 15th Meetings Africa, exhibitors from 17 African countries will take part. There will also be hundreds of buyers. One thing is clear: Meetings Africa lives up to its mission of making it possible for delegates to advance Africa together.

Who Will You Meet? • African, international and local meeting and event planners • Association buyers who organise international conventions • Local corporate executives who book business travel • Travel agencies specialising in incentive, business and conference travel • In-house event co-ordinators • Incentive houses • Conference organisers • Sales and promotion agencies • Marketing companies • PR agencies

When it Kicks Off

24 February 2020: BONDay 25 - 26 February 2020: Exhibition www.meetingsafrica.co.za

EVENT GREENING AT MEETINGS AFRICA

The South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) has been working closely with the Event Greening Forum (EGF) NPO to make Meetings Africa a sustainable event that upholds many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This has involved implementing a mix of tried-and-tested best practice strategies and some completely bold, new ideas. 1. Water: Everyone who is at Meetings

Africa 2020 is encouraged to fill their cups and bottles from the water coolers provided, rather than buying bottled water.

During the production phase, it takes roughly three bottles of water to produce a single prepackaged bottle of water. Drinking tap water is a more efficient way to use this precious resource.

If you absolutely have to drink bottled water, it will be available with a surcharge of R15. 2. Waste: Meetings Africa 2020 will have recycling bins throughout the venue, and a woman-owned BEE company will ensure it is correctly separated back of house. The organic food waste will be composted by Earth Probiotic’s event composting solution; recyclables which will be sent directly to a recycling facility; and, finally, only unavoidable waste will be sent to landfill.

Last year, Meetings Africa 2019 successfully diverted 71% of its waste from landfill, through this system. 3. Energy: Although Eskom will power

Meetings Africa 2020, SANCB will also purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from an independent renewable power supplier. The amount of green energy procured will be the equivalent to what the show requires,

All exhibitors can also buy miniRECs to ‘power’ their stands.

4. Transportation: In addition to its world class facilities, the Sandton Convention Centre is close to a number of hotels, so delegates can walk to and from the venue daily. It is also close to the Gautrain’s public transport system. Where side events are hosted off-site, the organisers have arranged shuttle buses to transport guests. This will minimise the number of vehicles on the road. 5. Eco-procurement: Buying goods and services from local companies, and where possible black-owned SMEs, is an important aspect of the Meetings Africa procurement policy. For example, a woman-owned BEE SME called the Soweto Sewing Company is responsible for sewing all of the uniforms for the Meetings Africa team. 6. Sustainability Village: Meetings Africa has perfected the art of responsible gifting through its Sustainability Village. The 2020 Village will host 16 SME businesses, who offer a range of beautiful, handcrafted, locallyproduced items – often with sustainable elements. Meetings Africa will give gift vouchers instead of gifts, which can be redeemed onsite at the Village. 7. Paperless: A Meetings Africa 2020 app is freely available for download for all visitors. Not only does it streamline the visitor experience by providing all of the information they need in one place, but it is helping the event go paperless.

8. The Green Awards: Meetings Africa has decided to only give out Green Stand Awards at the show – sending a clear message that the best stands are not only beautiful, but are sustainable, too! Hopefully the show’s exhibitors will be increasingly motivated to make sustainable improvements to their stands, operations, and marketing efforts. 9. Carbon offsetting: SANCB will do a partial offset of the show’s carbon footprint, by procuring trees from Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) to plant in disadvantaged communities around Johannesburg. FTFA’s programme includes ongoing care and maintenance of the trees they plant.

Exhibitors, hosted buyers and visitors can also purchase a tree or more. 10.Eco-assessment: An eco-assessment of the event will be conducted by an independent third party sustainability consultant. The final report provides critical lessons on what worked and what can be done better, so the sustainability of the event continues to improve year on year. 11. Communication: Finally, communication is integral to all of the event greening efforts being made at Meetings Africa 2020, to help everyone to the event understand what is being done and why. This not only encourages support and buy-in into these activities, but it raises awareness about sustainable issues that exist beyond the show.

For more information, please contact:

Pippa Naude Tel: +27 (0)74 369 6369, Email: pippa@eventgreening.co.za Web: eventgreening.co.za