To be hosted on 26 February 2006 by Thebe Exhibitions in partnership with the Gauteng Tourism Authority, South African Tourism, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Johannesburg Convention Bureau, the conference is aimed at unleashing the potential of business tourism in South Africa.
Top international business tourism specialist Michel Couturier will address the conference under the topic 'Evolution of business tourism - is South Africa getting its fair share?'
"I believe a more stable international market makes for a better environment for South Africa to grow its market share," says Couturier, President of New York based Marketing Challenges International, a company that specialises in promoting international destinations, venues and organisations to the business and leisure market segments in North America.
The Marketing Challenges International client list includes the convention bureaus of Barcelona, Vienna and Sydney, as well as Visit Scotland, Brussels Intl and the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.
The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) currently ranks South Africa the 31st most popular meeting country in the world. In terms of the number of scheduled meetings between 2005 and 2016, South Africa ranks 18th.
South Africa is the top meetings destination in Africa, followed by Egypt and Tunisia, and already accounts for more than 63% of all conference activities in Africa, with the industry producing more than R21 billion per year.
Carol Weaving, Managing Director of the Thebe Exhibitions and Events Group says it is the first time that leaders across the spectrum of business tourism - representing the conference, exhibition and incentive travel sectors - will interact and discuss issues of common interest. "We believe a unified industry will go a long way towards achieving the goal set by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, namely to move up to the top 10 ranked business tourism destinations by 2010."
The industry's approach to and preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament will be central to discussions at the conference. Case studies of successful events, such as the World Petroleum Congress held in Johannesburg last year, will also be discussed.
South African Tourism will introduce its business tourism marketing campaign, BusinessUnusual, to delegates.
The conference will be followed by the continent's premier business tourism exhibition, Meetings Africa, at the Sandton Convention Centre from 27 to 28 February.
