Africa needs more meetings

WHAT can be done
to draw more
meetings to Africa?
This was a central point of
focus at Meetings Africa
2015. Celebrating its tenth
consecutive year, the event
took place at the Sandton
Convention Centre from March
23-25.
Meetings Africa itself is
evidence of the continuing
growth of the African meetings
industry, says SANCB chief
convention bureau officer,
Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo. The
event has experienced year-onyear
growth of 10% since its
inception. Not surprising, since
Africa currently boasts some of
the fastest growing economies
in the world, creating
considerable opportunity to
drive business tourism off the
back of trade deals, she says.
The average spend generated
per delegate travelling for
business event purposes is
far greater than the average
spend generated per tourist.
However, industry heads
believe a great deal more can
be done to capitalise on these
opportunities.
Speaking at the event’s
media briefing, SA Tourism
ceo, Thulani Nzima, said while
South Africa had done well
to invest in business tourism
development, for many other
African countries allocating
budget towards this was not
enough of a priority. There was
a need for African countries
to work together in providing
business tourists with a more
regional experience, rather
than individual countries
competing with one another for
travellers’ full spend, he said.
A key issue raised by
Nina Freysen-Pretorius,
International Congress and
Convention Association (ICCA)
president, was that African
countries wanting to attract
large-scale association events
needed to have a number
of critical elements in place
first, including the right
infrastructure, political will and
ambassadors.
Visa regulations were also
a point of concern, for South
Africa in particular. Delegates
from different African countries
complained that it was taking
up to 45 days to acquire a
visa, when the advertised wait
time was significantly shorter.
Thulani responded, saying
that during the immigration
regulation review, the South
African government would
look to try and balance the
country’s security and tourism
interests. “We don’t want to
put money into processes
that don’t work,” he said. “We
don’t want a leaking bucket.”