Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the official tourism destination marketing organisation of Cape Town and the Western Cape, has secured two more conference bids, bringing 5,000 delegates and an estimated economic impact of R 54,180,000 to the destination in 2010.

The organisation’s Conventions and Events Bureau, together with the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), secured the IEEE Globecom Bid with an estimated attendance of 2,000 delegates and economic impact of R19,350,000, and the Medical Informatics Conference, bringing 3,000 expected delegates and an estimated economic injection of R34,830,000 to the destination. Both conferences will take place in 2010.

“This is extremely good news - we can really say that Cape Town and the Western Cape is ending 2006 on a high note. It is crucial that our destination takes full advantage of the marketing opportunities the 2010 Soccer World Cup is providing our city, province and country with, and the way in which the tournament is already profiling South Africa. It’s also important to note that 35% of all international conference delegates return to the conference destination as leisure tourists within five years from the conference taking place, and that they often bring friends or family with,” says Barry Ackers, Chief Operating Officer of Cape Town Routes Unlimited.

The securing of the two bids follows Cape Town and the Western Cape’s recent successful hosting of its largest conference yet when it welcomed 12,700 delegates to the 19th World Diabetes Congress. The conference, held from 3 to 7 December 2006 at the CTICC, was a benchmark event for the destination, proving that it can effectively host events of this magnitude and that it is ready to do so in the future.

“Hosting this event also showed how conferences, of this scale and smaller, profit the various links in the tourism value chain by contributing to the growth, development and transformation of the Western Cape tourism industry,” says Ackers.

“Cape Town’s credentials as a competitive player in the meetings and events market are growing significantly. The city is continuously making strides in cementing its presence in the associations market. Role-players including the CTICC, hospitality industry, airlines and professional conference organisers are constantly rising to available opportunities,” he says.

So far in 2006 alone, seven international association bids were secured by Cape Town Routes Unlimited’s Conventions and Events Bureau. These bids will bring almost 20,000 delegates to the destination with a combined estimated economic impact of more than R200 million between 2007 and 2014. They include the 5th IAS HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment Conference with 5,000 delegates in 2009, International Academy of Pathology conference with 2,000 delegates in 2012, and World Pharma 2014 (17th IUPHAR World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology) with 10,000 delegates in 2014.

In the 2005/2006 financial year, nineteen bids were secured and an additional seventeen submitted during this period, which have the potential to generate new business between 2007 and 2016. The combined direct economic impact of bids secured and in progress is some R436 million. This includes international association congresses, corporate meetings and incentives.