COVER STORY: BEACON OF HOPE

BEACON OF HOPE

After it was postponed in 2021, the much-anticipated Meetings Africa will go ahead as an in-person experience at the end of February. We hear from the show’s organisers, the South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB), on what to expect.

On 10 November 2021, an announcement was made that sent the business events and travel industry into overdrive – Meetings Africa, together with Africa’s Travel Indaba, would be making a comeback in 2022. With Meetings Africa being the ultimate showcase of the continent’s range of MICE destinations, products and services, the industry is anticipating an exceptional three-day experience filled with networking and engaging, informative sessions.

Delegates will arrive for the same show at the same venue but, after two years during which our entire way of doing business had to change, the experience will be quite different because, as Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, chief convention bureau officer at the SANCB says, “It has to be.” She adds, “The conversations we will be having at Meetings Africa this year will be centred on unified strategies for the collective recovery of Africa’s business events industry. These are dialogues that we have been having among ourselves and within smaller focus groups but not as a whole, and I feel that – this year – Meetings Africa will play a stronger role than it ever has in bringing the industry together.”

ALL PROTOCOLS OBSERVED

As the business events arm of South African Tourism, the SANCB will demonstrate to hosted buyers as well as Africa’s MICE industry stakeholders how to successfully run a large-scale conference and exhibition on African soil while ensuring all health and safety protocols are observed.

South African Tourism’s mettle has already been tested and a standard set during the hybridformat Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit (ATTS), which ran in September 2021 under the theme ‘Reawakening Africa’. Meetings Africa takes place on the back of ATTS at the same venue – the Sandton Convention Centre.

Organisers have made it clear on the Meetings Africa website that the show will enforce a strict mask-wearing mandate and visitors and participants can expect to be screened and sanitised upon entry. Anyone who does not pass the screening will not be permitted access to the show. With capacities now at 1 000 people indoors, the number of physical attendees will need to be capped but the organisers are confident that exhibitors, visitors and hosted buyers will get to enjoy the full Meetings Africa experience.

“Business events and travel were immediately and directly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. After the losses we have experienced as a result of the numerous

Meetings Africa is a representation of the unrelenting spirit of an African industry that forges ahead and opens its doors to the world.”

Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, chief convention bureau officer at the SANCB

MEETINGS AFRICA USEFUL INFO AND LINKS

• Meetings Africa kicks off with its

BONDay (Business Opportunities

Networking Day) on 28 February 2022, with its two show days taking place on 1 and 2 March 2022

• Visitors can attend Meetings Africa for free if they register before 26 February 2022 • 200 hosted buyers are being targeted to form part of Meetings Africa, presenting an invaluable opportunity for exhibitors

cancellations and postponements, we understand the risks very clearly, but we also recognise that we need to lead by example and be a model for the rest of the industry, which we aim to achieve with Meetings Africa,” Amanda emphasises.

The Covid-19 pandemic may have taken its toll on the global business events industry; however, as an important role player within the business events industry on the African continent, the SANCB remains optimistic and committed to providing solutions to ensure the right engagement can happen, safely.

“We are thrilled to invite global buyers to come network and do business with our exhibitors from across the African continent. There has been a resounding call for face-to-face business engagement from our industry players, and we are confident in executing a safe event. While we understand the severe blow that has been dealt to the industry, we are also confident in creating a conducive platform for our participants. Buyers who will not be able to visit South Africa due to travel restrictions will be accommodated through a minimal virtual platform,” says Amanda.

THE AFRICAN OFFERING

Brimming with opportunity, Africa is still considered a relatively untapped destination, which is clear in the International Congress and Convention Association rankings. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, Africa hosted just 3% of all international association meetings (415) and roughly half as many as the top-performing country, the USA (934). This alone highlights the burgeoning prospects offered by the continent. Africa could also be part of its own solution by providing the means for business travel and tourism destinations to recover and make up some of the losses from previous years. A key trend identified during ATTS was the potential of domestic markets to stimulate growth and help support the tourism market in particular.

“Our domestic tourists were the driving force behind our tourism and hospitality businesses over December,” noted Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa.

Meanwhile, data from Statistics SA indicates that, in 2019, prior to the pandemic, domestic spend contributed 73% of the R451.5 billion in internal expenditure generated by the tourism sector.

This further supports the motivation behind the SANCB’s domestic growth strategy to nurture MICE opportunities within villages, towns and small dorpies. While this is intended to promote these destinations, as well as support the growth and development of their MICE facilities and experiences, Amanda believes more needs to be done to showcase the continent and its multitude of destinations.

“The only way we are going to get international buyers and delegates to experience Africa is to experience it for ourselves and tell our own stories in such a way that it elevates the perception of Africa. There is so much diversity, richness and warmth offered by the continent but, as Africans, we need to ask ourselves how we are experiencing this for ourselves and, further to this, how we are sharing this with the rest of the world,” she concludes.