“I AM not happy with transformation within the sector and this means more work has to be done,” says South African Tourism Acting Chief Executive Officer, Reverend Themba Khumalo.
He was speaking to this reporter on the sidelines at the media launch of Meetings Africa, that has entered its 17th iteration in Sandton.
Meetings Africa will be held from 27 February to 01 March 2023- that will see over 275 buyers representing 45 countries, 305 exhibitors representing 15 African countries are currently registered to showcase their wares this year and various Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) will also be showcasing in the development zone.
TK as he’s known within the sector noted that:” Transformation, inclusive economic growth and accelerating job creation are all central to all the work we do at South African Tourism. Providing our small businesses and entrepreneurs an opportunity to also interact and engage with hosted buyers is very important because we are serious about harnessing business opportunities both within the African continent and globally.”
The advent of Covid and now electricity crises has shown that it can’t be business as usual, especially for our own small sectors. They need our attention and support because they’re the backbone of our economy, he told this reporter.
Meetings Africa, has a global, hosted buyer programme that for optimal interaction between buyers and exhibitors. In addition to this, South African Tourism has partnered with all nine provinces to host Meetings Africa familiarization pre and post tours for hosted buyers and media to experience South Africa’s business events facilities and establishments.
On the domestic front, overnight trips from January to November 2022 reached 29.8 million trips, 139.4% over the same period in 2021. Holiday and MICE trips increased in share whilst trips for VFR purposes fell in share.
The agency also announced the latest tourism performance numbers highlighting that tourism is a critical contributor to the economy. Cumulative arrivals for the January to November 2022 period increased by 151.9% to reach 5.0 million of arrivals over the same period in 2021. Arrivals in November 2022 were 565 758 arrivals.
The biggest region in terms of real numbers was African Land with a 126.1% increase in arrivals when compared with January to November 2021. The total number of arrivals from Europe in this period of 2022 was 778 222. Arrivals from the Americas increased by 227.0% and represented 285,446 arrivals. Over these eleven months, 2022 has performed better than 2021 but it is still not at the 2019 levels.
Total domestic expenditure was R84.2 billion, a 172.4% increase over 2021, and was driven by holiday trips having accounted for 44.3% of total expenditure. Domestic day trips recorded a 173.0% increase or 160.6 million. Day trips spend also showed a phenomenal increase of 174.8% to reach 148.6 billion.
The gathering would also help market SA to the rest of Africa and the world, says Barba Gaoganediwe- Gauteng Tourism Agency spokesperson.
In keeping with the spirit of renewed energy, this year’s Meetings Africa will, for the first time, host the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) Summit. This Africa chapter of the AIPC Summit was born out of a partnership between the South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB), a business unit of South African Tourism and the AIPC.
Khumalo said the Summit is critical for the continent, to ensure that Africa’s conferencing facilities are on par with those from the rest of the world.
“This Summit will help African venues to benchmark themselves against the global standards, to brand and position themselves based on what people are looking for in an internationally recognized venue,” added Khumalo.
On financial capability, Khumalo said although they do receive that much needed support from Government, they will table new offer for more funds to execute their mandate fully.
The out-going Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu could not attend due to Govt commitments.
MA also unveiled its new logo as part of continent’s growth story and ‘a tool to forge even more partnerships by offering various opportunities to meet face-to-face with the most influential buyers in the world’, says Rev Khumalo.
Meetings Africa will be hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre from 27 February to 01 March 2023.
Image SLM (From right, Acting SAT CE- Rev Themba Khumalo, an unidentified guest, Gauteng Tourism boss Sthembiso Dlamini (pink dress), an unidentified MC for the day and brand specialist Sylvester Chauke at the MA launch, in Sandton).
