Thebe Exhibitions Managing director Carol Weaving says other major cities have expressed strong interest in hosting the event: "But it makes plain business sense to keep Meetings Africa in Johannesburg. New research findings announced by Kessel Feinstein and Direct Access indicate that Gauteng remains the leading event destination in South Africa by far, making it a perfect match."
According to the research, conducted between April and June this year, Johannesburg hosted 38% of events as compared to 26% in Cape Town and 17% in Durban.
Weaving says Meetings Africa 2006 is already enjoying huge tourism industry support: "We already have the commitment from the Johannesburg Tourism Company, for instance, to host 30 international hosted buyers at the show, as well as principle support from the Department of Trade and Industry who partnered Meetings Africa for the first time this year and Cape Town Routes Unlimited. Kwa-Zulu Natal Tourism has also once again indicated their interest.
According to Weaving Meetings Africa 2006 is likely to see huge growth from this year: "Business tourism is clearly a huge market on its own, as, for instance, only five percent of this year's exhibitors also participated in Indaba, South Africa's biggest leisure tourism show, in May. While we had exhibitors from African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania this year, we plan to extend participation from companies across the continent.
"We also plan to feature more emerging entrepreneurs in the business tourism industry, getting the message across that the opportunities in the industry are tremendous."
It is estimated that business tourism is currently worth approximately R21 billion per year to the South African economy and sustains nearly 260 000 jobs. It provides more than R6 billion annually to salaries and contributes R4 billion to the central fiscal in the form of taxes.
