COVER STORY
OPEN DOORS Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, chief convention bureau officer at the SANCB
Meetings spoke with the South Africa National Convention Bureau’s very own Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, who unpacks the Bureau’s strategy that paves the way for the recovery of the business events sector.
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usiness events play a critical role in the economy. According to figures from the Events Industry Council, cited by South African Tourism, in 2016, the global MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and business events industry generated around US$1.5 trillion (R23.5 trillion today) in direct spend. The Covid-19 pandemic may have resulted in a slew of cancellations but before 2017, the industry contributed $7.7 billion (R120.9 billion today) to South Africa’s GDP – a third of the total amount generated by tourism, of which business events
is a subsector. These figures highlight the value of business events as well as why the subsector should receive the right level of attention to realise its full economic potential. Attracting and supporting bids for locally hosted business events forms part of the mandate of the South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) – the business events arm of South African Tourism – with the recovery of the industry in the wake of the pandemic being a key objective. With the pandemic still ongoing, the total economic impact on business events is yet to be calculated;
however, figures from a survey conducted by the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) in March 2020, which involved 167 respondents across all nine provinces in South Africa and included the spectrum of events-related organisations, indicated that $49.8 million (R782 million) in revenue was lost due to cancellations between March and June 2020 alone. The recovery of the industry, highlights Amanda, chief convention bureau officer at the SANCB, will first be felt domestically. “Looking at the recovery of face-to-face meetings, you will immediately attract your local partners, then affiliates from outside the region and, lastly, international travellers. We are seeing this all over the world, but the first step is building the confidence among ourselves,” she says.
WORKING AROUND THE CHALLENGES A major hurdle in the face of adjusted lockdown restrictions is ensuring MICE experiences can successfully go ahead and do so safely. “The lead time for us to plan events has been challenging. Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit
