Nina Freysen-Pretorius has been elected president of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), becoming the first African to hold the post.
Freysen-Pretorius, founder of The Conference Company, a South Africa-based conference planning firm is the Association’s third female to assume the role.
She succeeds current president, Arnaldo Nardone who is stepping down after two terms.
Freysen-Pretorius was elected by the ICCA general assembly from a shortlist of three candidates including Handan Boyce from the Halic Congress Center in Turkey and Martin Winter of the Gold Coast Tourism Corp. in Australia.
"With ICCA celebrating 50 years of industry involvement I am so glad an African leader is given an opportunity to lead," Freysen-Pretorius said in a statement.
"My objective is to ensure that ICCA continues to provide benefits which enable its members to generate and maintain significant competitive advantage."
