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A strong team from Cape Town and the Western Cape pulled out all the stops to promote our destination in the highly competitive international meetings, conferences and incentive (MICE) tourism sector. The occasion was the annual Global Meetings and Incentives Exhibition (EIBTM) that took place in Barcelona, Spain from 2 – 4 December. The show attracted a record of 3,711 hosted buyers, with a total of 11,000 visitors including meeting planners, conference organisers, convention bureau representatives, destination management companies and the like. The number of hosted buyers increased by 12% compared with EIBTM 2007.
The Cape delegation, led by CTRU’s Convention Bureau, included the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Arabella Starwood and Southern Sun hotels as well as three destination management companies (DMCs) namely Fairfield Meetings & Incentives, Into Africa and Propel Africa. Despite the effects of the global financial crisis there was significant interest in Cape Town and the Western Cape as an incentive / corporate meetings destination with some enquiries with regard to potential Association Conferences in the destination to be followed up. The Cape Town Convention Bureau (CTRU) provided a branded destination platform for our partners and this combination worked well with many walk-ins onto the stand and pre-scheduled appointments being able to conclude business with the hotels and the DMCs. This follows a very successful quarter for the Cape Town Convention Bureau where the bureau was able to confirm 9 Association Meeting’s conferences for Cape Town between 2009 and 2018.
Speaking from Barcelona, CTRU CEO Calvyn Gilfellan, who headed up the delegation, commented about the high level of co-operation amongst the Western Cape delegation. “International meeting planners, corporate and incentive buyers and organisers would come to our stand and get all the information they want with the highest levels of service excellence. Many of the 195 visitors to our stand and presentation area complemented the team for this” This has translated into strong leads for CTRU’s Convention Bureau as well as the other Cape based exhibitors. Some of these include:
– A potential 600 strong Singaporean incentive programme in 2009;
– 200 confirmed delegates from the UK Corporate Group Gulliver’s;
– 3 groups of Dutch incentive and association buyers planning to visit Cape Town during Meetings Africa in early 2009
– A potential 500 delegates in 2009 coming to the VISA International Programme and
* 5 000 delegates for a planned European pharmaceutical conference.
“EIBTM attendees have shown a huge interest in South Africa and the Western Cape as an incentive and meetings destination during 2010. This bodes well for us because one would expect some displacement of regular leisure tourism during a big sport’s tournament such as the FIFA World Cup 2010” remarks Gilfellan.
Although EIBTM took place during a time of extreme economic turmoil in the developed economies of the world, the mood amongst delegates and organisers remained buoyant. The economic crisis was viewed as an opportunity for the meetings and incentives industry to reposition itself with regard to issues like the environment, social and economic responsibility and the new financial reality. “Discussions focused on carbon neutrality, corporate social responsibility and energy efficiency – all issues hitherto largely ignored by this sector of the tourism industry” says Gilfellan.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
