The power of buying time

The Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC), having hosted SA's first Design Indaba this weekend, has seen a record 750 events, 300 of them international, since its doors opened. The Western Cape's popularity as a business tourism destination is based on its first world services: convenient infrastructure, state of the art technology and quality of service delivery. Power disruptions therefore have a negative effect on the country's image.

According to CTICC's technical service manager Kobus Dannhauser: "Looking at how popular Cape Town is as a tourist destination I don't think the power cuts will have a detrimental impact on SA's image.

"The CTICC building has adequate capacity in terms of generators. The only inconvenience to stand holders would be the lack of air conditioning - a mild discomfort."

The Business Tourism Company's CEO Rick Taylor is more sceptical: "The power cuts in the Cape do cascade onto the image perceived of SA. There is great competition internationally in the business tourism sector and a perception of our country as being innefficient is not favourble.

"Business tourism aims at levelling the platform so that we can get delegates back to our country as leisure tourists. Already business tourists spend three times as much as their leisure counterparts. If we can't please them we stand to lose a lot of revenue."

In Taylor's opinion SA has been able to buy some time. With Germany hosting the Soccer World Cup a lot of international attention is being diverted.

"There is lots of good work being done behind the scenes. After the final whistle is blown in Germany the spotlight will be on SA. The Soccer World Cup leadership and the rest of the country then have to be ready."

International Marketing Council CEO Yvonne Johnson is unperturbed: "These things happen all over the world - even in New York."