Meetings Africa trade fair at the end of Feb ruary Around 275 exhibitors from 18 African countries exhibited at the Sandton Conven tion Centre where the emphasis was on sus tainable events 176 hand picked internation al hosted buyers trade journalists from all over the world and many MICE buyers from all over Africa also came to the show That makes Meetings Africa the continent s largest trade fair in the industry Meetings Africa represents a key com ponent of our 5 in 5 strategy explains Sisa Ntshona who became CEO of South African Tourism in October 2016 In the next five years we want to get five million new business and non business visitors to come to South Africa In the MICE sector we are focusing our efforts not just on large events but increasingly also on small and medium sized events emphasises Ntshona So we want to get as many organisers as possible to come to South Africa he argues They need to see for themselves the high quality of the infrastructure and experience the warm hearted people and the excellent value for money The National Convention Bureau which celebrated its fifth anniversary on 1 April is an important factor The decision makers at South African Tourism see the NCB as being key to the success of the country s entire tourism industry MICE visitors to South Africa spend about three times as much a day as normal tourists calculates Amanda Kotze Nhlapo Then many of them come back with their families on holiday The ex ecutive manager of the NCB believes that the trade fair sector should be given priority for the future We are already receiving a lot of interest from trade fair organisers from all over the world says the MICE expert And the UFI Congress in Johannesburg in No vember should provide further lasting stimu lus With a population of over 50 million South Africa offers attractive potential for trade fairs in a wide variety of industries she believes In addition to the high expectations she has of the most important annual event in the international trade fair industry Kotze Nhlapo also advocates exhibiting at trade fairs where it has proved to be effective That s how she intends to achieve the planned growth rates in the MICE industry Imex in Frankfurt and ibtm world in Barcelona are very important for us At the most recent Imex America South Africa had a distinct USP as the only African destination exhibiting there At these events we make a point of inviting a large proportion of the hosted buyers she reports These guests then visit Meetings Africa and get to know the country on pre and post convention trips The NCB boss also believes the ICCA is increasingly important The first meeting of the African Chapter of the International Congress and Convention Association was held during Meetings Africa in Sandton But the decision makers at South African Tourism also have another very promising marketing approach We look upon neigh bouring countries not as competitors but as partners in an undertaking to develop the MICE industry all over Africa says South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona Only by working together will Africa be able to get a larger slice of the MICE cake Ntshona therefore regards it as a very welcome devel opment that convention bureaus are be ing established in a number of countries Zimbabwe being one example Future trips made in connection with confer ences could make international MICE planners aware not only of new and ex traordinary hotels in South Africa such as the recently opened suites only Silo Hotel by the V A Waterfront in Cape Town but also the wildlife on golf cours es in neighbouring countries www southafrica net AT 74 TradeFairs Internation al 2 2017 INTERNATIONAL Freuen sich auf das Jahrestreffen der Messewirtschaft Sonia Thomas von der UFI l und Craig Newman Expo Centre Johannesburg 2 v r Looking forward to the annual meeting of the trade fair industry Sonia Thomas UFI l and Craig Newman Expo Centre Johannesburg 2nd f t r MICE Besucher geben bei uns etwa dreimal so viel aus wie normale touristische Gäste weiß Amanda Kotze Nhlapo vom National Convention Bureau MICE visitors spend three times as much here as normal tourists says Amanda Kotze Nhlapo of the National Convention Bureau Ph ot o T FI Ph ot o T FI

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