Meetings Africa - 15 Years of Advancing Africa | South African Tourism

115 YEARS OF ADVANCING AFRICA

Welcome to the 15th edition of Meetings Africa! This is a historic milestone – it speaks of 15 years of consistently bringing key business tourism sector players under one roof to help African countries to collectively advance the tourism interests of our continent. The longevity of Meetings Africa, without a doubt one of the continent’s premier business events trade shows, is worth celebrating. It has been a journey marked by peerless vision of pushing to advance the interest of the continent, together. Meetings Africa has, over the years, established itself as one of the cornerstone events of Africa’s meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions calendar. As we reflect on this moment, we are proud of our ever-growing abilities as a world-class host of high-profile events – such as the historic World Cup in 2010, World Aids Conference, COP 17, World Economic Forum, all of which have greatly enhanced the stature of South Africa in the eyes of the world.

More importantly, these events contributed significantly to the country’s economic growth. In 2018, Meetings Africa pointed out that business tourism contributed an astonishing R115 billion to the country’s economy, underlining an incontrovertible fact – business tourists spend more than leisure tourists; their money is commonly spent at hotels, conference centres, restaurants, country clubs and convention centres. Consequently, the benefits of the Business Events sector can be felt in many South African industries: healthcare, mining, academia, to name a few. In essence, the meetings industry is a key component of the knowledge economy since it facilitates the sharing of knowledge, collaboration and information dissemination. This success and growth in our various industries will no doubt continue to be felt in coming years, particularly with the recent bids won to host international conferences and events.

These wins are partly as a result of SA Tourism and the South Africa National Convention Bureau’s (SANCB) avid and continuous participation in regional and international trade shows such as Meetings Africa. Bid wins include the AWS Public Sector Summit (2020), the BRICS Mathematic Sciences Conference (2021), the International Adventure Conference (2021), the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) / International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Joint Meetings (2021), the 11th International Conference on Typhoid and Other Invasive Salmonellosis (2021), the World Wagyu Congress (2021) the Sestech Technology Conference (2021), the World Congress of Orthinology WOC (2022), the Biennial Political Ecology Network (POLLEN) Conference (2022), the World Congress of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FIP) (2022), the International Association for Paediatric Dentistry IAPD (2023), and many more in coming years.

Meetings Africa is a pivotal connection in the growth of meetings on the continent. It has enabled African decision-makers to keep abreast with what their counterparts in other parts of the world are doing, thereby lending one huge voice to a continent many rightly regard as dynamic and ripe for further growth. As Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, the Chief Convention Bureau Officer of the SANCB, so aptly says, “Meetings Africa is geared to enhance the collaboration between African countries and African associations so as to create more shared economic benefits for the continent’s business events sector, it is where the world comes to buy Africa.” This year, exhibitors from 20 African countries will participate in Meetings Africa, as well as hundreds of quality hosted buyers. Ultimately, one thing is clear: Meetings Africa lives up to its mission of making it possible for delegates to advance Africa together. Here’s to another 15 years of reaching even more milestones.

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15 YEARS OF ADVANCING AFRICA
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