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M&IT Trends & Spends Survey

Cape Town MICE efforts take a bite of the big apple

Cape Town has beaten New York to top the list of long-haul destinations favoured by UK-based events agencies, underscoring the Western Cape…

Cape Town has beaten New York to top the list of long-haul destinations favoured by UK-based events agencies, underscoring the Western Cape¢s emergence as a destination of choice for conference groups. Cape Town jumped to the top  of the list from fourth place last year in the annual M&IT Trends & Spends Survey of delegates and organizers in the lucrative Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) sector in the United Kingdom.

In total, 76 768 participants were polled, including the 30 UK events agencies with the highest turnover. Of these 16 327 voted on their favoured long-haul destination. The results: Cape Town knocked New York off its top spot as favourite city, while SA was second behind the USA as favourite long-haul destination country.

Cape Town has also moved up the tables of the number of nights delegates spend here, from ninth spot to seventh.

Calvyn Gilfellan, Acting Chief Executive for Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the official destination marketing organisation (DMO) for Cape Town and the Western Cape, says the results are gratifying: “The MICE market is a hugely important one for this province, so our progression in these rankings is vital. It clearly testifies to the successful actions of a broad array of parties, and as province¢s DMO, this poll is a useful barometer of all our efforts to promote tourism as a driver of economic growth and social change. Our mandate is to bring more visitors here, to get them to stay longer, spend more, visit more often and visit throughout the year, not just in the summer months. The exposure that the city and province get through the MICE sector ahead of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup plays an important role in achieving those objectives.”

During the 2006/2007 financial year, 15 international association bids were secured for Cape Town and the Western Cape, by Cape Town Routes Unlimited¢s Conventions and Events Bureau, working together with its partners. These will draw an estimated 32 300 business tourists and an economic impact of R342 million to the destination between now and 2014. A further 14 bids were submitted during this period with the potential to bring an additional 16 290 tourists and a further R138 million to the destination up till 2021.

Apart from New York, Cape Town also beat Atlanta, Chicago, Dubai, Orlando, Toronto, San Diego, Boston and Las Vegas as favoured long-haul cities in the Trends & Spends survey.

The United States is still regarded by the UK as the top country in terms of long-haul destinations though, with South Africa in second place, followed by Canada, the UAE, China, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and Zambia.

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Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

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