Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA), which has responsibility for marketing Gauteng, plans to cement the province’s position as the country’s leading business tourism destination, during next week’s Meetings Africa, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre, [pictured below] Johannesburg from 28 February to 1 March.
Meetings Africa is Africa’s top annual business tourism marketing platform, showcases products and services for conference or event organisers, managers of venues and corporate travel planners and is a public/private partnership between South African Tourism and Thebe Exhibitions & Events, presented by the GTA. It is the region’s only one-stop shop for meeting planners, event organisers and incentive travel professionals.
Some 200 companies in the business tourism industry from South Africa and countries like Zambia, Kenya and Mozambique, as well as destination management from across the region will be attending, promoting their products and services to both local and foreign buyers at the Convention Centre.
TravelMole, is also attending and will be reporting from Meetings Africa daily next week.
Gauteng, described as the Place of Gold, the economic powerhouse of the Southern African region and home to Africa’s greatest cities, including the vibrant metropolis of Soweto, dynamic Johannesburg, known as the City of Gold to the tree-lined diplomacy of Pretoria, is a cosmopolitan, multicultural mix of people from all walks of life, from all four corners of the world.
GTA CEO Cawe Mahlati said that Gauteng has a highly professional and 
advanced sector in terms of hosting meetings, incentives trips, conferences and exhibitions, adding, “Gauteng boasts over 430 conference facilities and hosts an average of 13 000 events annually, with more than 40 international airlines link the province to major centres worldwide.”
Research conducted by GTA shows that in 2005, foreigners spent some R16.6-billion in the province, a figure projected to increase to over R35-billion in 2010.
Cawe Mahlati says that increasing both local and international business tourism to Gauteng was one of her organisation’s strategic priorities, adding, “We believe Gauteng is uniquely positioned as South Africa’s home of BusinessUnusual, providing the ideal getaway and allowing for innovative thinking.”
BusinessUnusual is a concept developed by South African Tourism, aimed at significantly growing business tourism, in order for the country to differentiate itself as a global meeting destination and this year, South African Tourism and the local chapter of Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE) have secured the Annual SITE Board Summit to be held during Meetings Africa 2007.
“By investing in initiatives such as Meetings Africa, I believe we will be instrumental in realising the business tourism potential of Gauteng,” said Mahlati.
Report by The Mole
