A conference is planned to market Johannesburg and the rest of the country to the business tourism sector, which seeks out the best venues for professional bodies to hold meetings, exhibitions and conventions.

JOBURG'S attractions will be shown off to the international business tourism sector during the Meetings Africa Business Tourism conference later this month.

South African Tourism is hosting the three-day event, which takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre from 26 to 28 February.

"The first day is the conference; that will be followed by a business tourism exhibition over the last two days," said Cathy Jackson, the managing director of Cathy Findley Public Relations, the events company organising the conference.

Meetings Africa will start with a business tourism conference hosted by the Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC). The conference will be open to the entire industry and is expected to attract a wide range of local stakeholders as well as delegates from Europe and Africa.

It aims to establish South Africa as a preferred destination for inter-state and global meetings, conferences, conventions and exhibitions. More than 20 international Association Buyers have been invited to the event by South African Tourism, with a further 45 invited by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Buyers
According to the organisers, Association Buyers are crucial to destination positioning in the business tourism sector. They explore the world for appropriate destinations and venues at which professional associations, such as medical and engineering organisations, or large corporates can hold conventions and exhibitions. These attract between 300 and 3 000 delegates.

"The JTC is sponsoring the event and, of course, it will be one of the big exhibitors over the two days of expos," Jackson said.

In addition to the activities to be scheduled during the expos, there would be a familiarisation trip for international buyers to the Apartheid Museum at Golf Reef City as well as a welcome to Joburg cocktail party.

In a press statement, Spencer Pillai, the general manager of the Johannesburg Convention Bureau and the acting chief executive of the JTC, said that the tourism company had noticed a trend in the past three years for an increasing number of visitors from Africa. It would take this opportunity to talk to buyers on a one-on-one basis.

"Africa is in our sights." Pillai added that as the economic hub of Africa, Johannesburg was ranked 47 out of 50 cities that were the centres of commerce that shaped the global economy. Its reputation as world class was increasingly receiving independent validation.

World Cup
Commenting on the 2010 Fifa World Cup^TM, Spencer was confident Joburg would be ready. "With over 35 percent of all matches to be held in our city, the overall success of the tournament will depend a great deal on [its] ability to host the thousands of visitors expected and to provide the best infrastructure for the staging of exciting matches."

Over and above the tourism opportunities and infrastructural gains expected from hosting the football spectacle, the City had also identified various legacy programmes that would benefit communities long after the tournament was over.

"The Johannesburg Greening Agenda is one such programme, resulting in a sustainable environmental legacy that involves recycling rubble from the old Orlando Stadium and Soccer City and using it for building the new facilities," he said.

Meetings Africa Business Tourism will be opened by Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the minister of environmental affairs and tourism, and speakers will include Joyce Dogniez, the director of operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa of Meeting Professionals International; Francois Rogers, the corporate strategies officer of the World Conservation Union; Christian Mutschlechner, the director of the Vienna Convention Bureau; Didi Moyle, the chief operating officer of South African Tourism; and other local and international business tourism experts.

Courtesy: Johannesburg News Agency