The annual Meetings Africa conference took place from February 21-23 at the Sandton Convention Centre. Ectour’s Tsitsikamma Nodal chairperson, Dewald Niemann represented the organisation at the event. Ectour is the private sector group marketing organisation for the Eastern Cape and represents more than 170 private products, putting it in a unique position to provide a truly comprehensive menu to provincial tourism. “We used the conference as an opportunity to showcase our members and to show the rest of the world what the Eastern Cape has to offer,” says Niemann.
The conference aims at exposing local and international buyers to the range of services and products in Southern Africa’s MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conference, Exhibitions) industry. According to SA Tourism, over 7,000 official meetings were scheduled during Meetings Africa 2011, breaking all previous records and exceeding the expectations of platform owners.
According to Niemann, the Eastern Cape needs to focus on obtaining a piece of the business tourism pie – an opportunity which was highlighted by SA Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, in his opening address at the conference.
According to van Schalkwyk, “In 2009 we welcomed approximately 500 000 business tourism arrivals to South Africa, representing about 4.7% of total tourist arrivals. This represents a total economic value of about R4 billion, with business tourists spending an average of R5 300 during their stay in South Africa. The average length of stay of business tourists also increased from 4.6 nights in 2008 to 4.8 nights in 2009.”
The Eastern Cape needs to work together to market the province as a business tourism destination. “Funding for big marketing initiatives is lacking in the Eastern Cape,” says Niemann. “But if all of the tourism entities could pool their resources, we would have a very effective campaign.”
The Eastern Cape offers many unique attractions including a variety of cultures, friendly people, low crime and incredible unspoiled surroundings. It also boasts a number of world class conference facilities and team-building venues.
“The Eastern Cape is well set up to host business tourism, we just have to get the word out there,” says Niemann.
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