Ed’s Comment

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE REALITY

One industry insider told me that, in many ways, the past year has been harder than the two years of lockdown. It’s true that the hard work has started in earnest now – but we are all still here because we love it.

The National State of Disaster was lifted on 5 April 2022, which is a mere six months ago. And yet it feels like a lifetime has passed – even though the after-effects of the Covid-induced lockdowns continue to have a huge impact on our professional lives, and likely will for some time yet.

Some of these after-effects have been positive, such as a greater enthusiasm for and appreciation of face-to-face events. This has resulted in several well-received business events being hosted, including the recent SAACI National Congress (which you can read about on page 9) and Electra Mining Africa. Hopefully our industry can channel this into building a robust pipeline for future events.

We are also seeing a surge in so-called revenge travel, and especially bleisure travel, which presents new opportunities for the MICE sector (find out more on page 12), while our coastal coverage highlights some of the world-class venues and hospitality that our country offers to support this growth (page 14).

Other after-effects are far less welcome. Exhibition standbuilders, for example, are grappling with several serious (and in one case dangerous) risks, which EXSA shares with us on page 6. One of the best ways to solve these kinds of challenges is through collaboration, and associations such as EXSA present the perfect vehicle for this. Now is the time to join and get involved with your industry associations. Your business and your chosen profession will both benefit from this.

GET READY TO END THE YEAR WITH A BANG After all the busyness and stress that the past few years have created, I think we can all agree 2022 needs to end with lots of celebration and fanfare. If you haven’t yet planned your year-end party, now is the time to do it! We have some solid advice from the pros on page 24 to help you make it extra special.

Lastly, please feel free to reach out to me if you have any issues you would like to share, questions or general feedback. This being my very first issue of Meetings magazine, I would love to hear from you!

Until next time, Pippa

Managing Editor Pippa Naude (Pippa.Naude@3smedia.co.za) Chief Sub-Editor Tristan Snijders Head of Design Beren Bauermeister Designer Jaclyn Dollenberg Contributors Sven Bossu, Glenton de Kock, Rivania Govender, Scott Langley, Mike Lysko, Devi Paulsen-Abbott, Morwesi Ramonyai

Production & Client Liaison Manager Antois-Leigh Nepgen

Group Sales Manager Chilomia Van Wijk Bookkeeper Tonya Hebenton

Distribution Manager Nomsa Masina Distribution Coordinator Asha Pursotham

Advertising Vanessa De Waal +27 (0)84 805 6752 | Vanessa.DeWaal@3smedia.co.za

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