South African Business Tourism Fact Sheet February 2010 Business Tourism Definition of Business tourism. Business Tourism focuses on a destination s ability to provide facilities and services to the millions of delegates who annually attend meetings, congresses exhibitions, business events and/or who participates in incentive travel and corporate hospitality Business Unusual What is Business Unusual? Examples: Actual BU experiences and physical product to refer to BUSINESS UNUSUAL is South Africa s proposition that differentiates its Business Tourism offering to that of its competitors. You come to South Africa for a different sense of business, drawing on our heritage, rainbow nation, and our unique history and cultural traditions. This cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world. BUSINESS UNUSUAL in practice is about the spirit of African leadership - our negotiated miracle to achieve democracy; our spirit of dialogue and consensus; our successful nation building. Maropeng return to the place of our origins in the Cradle of Humankind. A fascinating journey of discovery that tells the story of human life and the human family drawing attention to that which binds humanity, rather than that which separates it. Lesedi Cultural Village multicultural village set in pristine bushveld. An opportunity to experience a different culture and a different way of looking at things and doing things. Lekgotla a dining area in the heart of Sandton that offers a fusion of exotic African culinary flavours. Music is rhythmic drumming and the ambience is essentially Africa, yet undeniably luxurious, too. An authentic venue that encourages patrons to connect, to engage, to celebrate and to explore their humanity and the fact that different points of view all comprise a greater truth. Moyo An entertainment venue that combines food, entertainment and shopping. Hospitality is warm and Page 1 of 5
The Business Unusual proposition. welcoming; the ambience is inspired by both human culture and nature and is utterly relaxed and lingering. It s an authentic and sophisticated dining experience. South Africa offers a unique Business Tourism proposition rooted in African traditions but directly connected to the needs of the modern world in providing solutions to business challenges and opportunities. At the core is its Business Unusual proposition incorporating: Learning from Ubuntu (respect for the dignity of all and an emphasis on partnerships) Learning from the spirit of African leadership Learning from the country s past Generic Business Tourism Facts and Figures Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index Business tourism s statistics. Business tourism share of South African tourism market. Value add ICCA rankings The American Society of Travel Agents The 2007 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index has ranked South Africa as the 18 th most attractive foreign direct investment destination worldwide. In 2008 Business tourism represented 6% of total arrivals to South Africa; this represents more than half a million visitors who came to SA for meetings, incentives, conferences and events. Business tourists spend on average R5,600 (2008) when in SA, an increase of almost 40% when compared to 2007. This makes Business Tourists an important contributor to the South African economy as they add more than R3bn to Tourism s Total Foreign Direct spend overall (and this is an increase of over half a billion when compared to 2007). Currently Business Tourism comprises 5.8% percent of the South African tourism market, and it is South African Tourism s goal to be amongst the top 20 global meetings destinations in the future Extensive leisure options: wildlife plus, action adventure plus, style and luxury plus, roots and culture plus, scenic beauty plus The country is ranked 34 th by the International Congress and Convention Association. The city of Cape Town is ranked 35 th and the city of Johannesburg is ranked 120 th (it moved up 30 places since 2007, previous position was 150). The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) chose South Africa as the venue for the 2009 International Destination Expo. The country will also host, amongst others, the World Social Security Forum in 2010, the World Critical Health Care Page 2 of 5
The major convention cities Accolades relevant to Business Tourism Conference in 2013, and World Pharma in 2014 Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg are South Africa s major convention cities and home to internationally acclaimed facilities. Since 2001 the World Travel Awards have named a South African conference centre as the best conferencing venue in Africa, and last year Durban International Convention Center won the award. 6 South Africa will host the International Olympic Committee s 123rd Congress in Durban in 2011. SITE has selected Cape Town to host its International Conference in December 2010 Two South African companies also won SITE Crystal awards in 2009: Terra Nova won a SITE Crystal Award for Most Outstanding Motivational programme 2009 Dragonfly Africa won a SITE Crystal Award for the Most Outstanding Sustainable Motivational Experience 2009 Five South African restaurants feature in S. Pellegrino s 100 World s Best Restaurant Awards for 2009: Le Quartier Francais in Franschoek (37 th Best restaurant in the Middle East and Africa) La Colombe in Constantia (38 th place) Jardine s in Cape Town (79 th place) Aubergine in Cape Town (96 th place) Rust en Vrede in Stellenbosch(98 th place) Cape Town has been voted the second best city in the world for 2009 in an online poll by Travel & Leisure magazine (voted 3 rd best city in 2008). Cape Town was voted Best Incentive Destination in the inaugural Conference and Incentive Travel magazine s 2009 Hot List. Twelve (12) SA hotels have been voted the world's top 100 hotels for 2009 in an online poll by Travel & Leisure magazine with 3 hotels in the top 10: Bushmans Kloof, Western Cape, Cedarberg Mountains (1 st place) Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve (Earth Lodge), Sabi Sand Wildtuin, Kruger National Park (3 rd place) Singita Sabi Sand, Sabi Sand Wildtuin, Kruger National Park (6 th place) South African Tourism s US operation has been named a 2009 winner of Incentive magazine s prestigious Platinum Page 3 of 5
10 Business Tourism Venues Partner Award. More than 65,000 of America s most qualified travel industry decision-makers selected the people, products and services that helped them most in motivating their employees and customers over the past year. South Africa has three major international convention centres (ICC Durban, Cape Town ICC and the Sandton Convention Centre). Other large meeting facilities include the Expo Centre that will play host to the International Broadcaster Centre(IBC) for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the East London International Conference Centre in the Eastern Cape, the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, the CSIR Convention Centre, Pretoria, the Sun City Resort in the North west Province and many more meeting and conference venues situated in a number of universities and hotels. The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa introduced grading to the Meetings, Exhibitions and Special Event (MESE) sector in 2004. This world first ensures that this sector is highly maintained and professionally managed. Meetings Africa Definition of Meetings Africa Exhibitors Meetings Africa is the continent's top business tourism exhibition, showcasing conference and event venues, incentive travel destinations and various industry support services. It is a one-stop shop for conference organisers, meeting planners, corporate travel agents, associations and government departments. In addition to many local corporate visitors, the exhibition is attended by carefully selected specialist international buyers of business tourism products and services. Meetings Africa experienced 15 percent more exhibitors in 2009 with a total of 218 businesses offering their wares to the global travel trade. Of those exhibitors, 50 were at Meetings Africa for the first time Page 4 of 5
Attendees The exhibition was attended by 1 921 visitors, including local and international buyers and media representatives. Meetings Africa was attended by 104 hosted buyers from South Africa s main business tourism source markets this year, (a 20% increase from last year) including The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, India, China and Switzerland. Meeting Africa 2010 Place: Sandton Convention Centre Date: 24 26 February 2010 More info: www.meetingsafrica.co.za Issued by FD Beachhead on behalf of South African Tourism For further information contact: Sandisiwe Gugushe at SA Tourism Sonja Malan at FD Beachhead Tel: +27 11 895 3043 Tel: +27 11 214 2400 Email: sandisiwe@southafrica.net Email: sonja.malan@fd.com Website www.southafrica.net Register on our media extranet to browse the latest news releases (from SA Tourism as well as the tourism industry in general), access the news archive and get details of all upcoming tourism industry events (both locally and internationally). http://mediaextranet.southafrica.net South African Tourism is the national tourism agency responsible for the marketing of South Africa as a preferred tourist destination. It is headed up by Chief Executive Officer Ms Thandiwe January-McLean Page 5 of 5