The South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) unveiled the preliminary results of its three-year study into the country’s business events industry, 29 November, at an ibtm world conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Extracts from the study, based on two years of research, were shared with key decision-makers and media, ahead of the final findings being released in 2017.
Using methodology employed by the UN World Tourism Organisation as a benchmark, the study is aimed at gaining a broader understanding of the South African meetings industry and its contribution to the local tourism economy.
The research, commissioned by the SANCB and conducted by Ground Control Research in conjunction with Grant Thornton auditors, is being compiled using information from interviews with delegates, organisers and venues.
Delegate and market behaviour patterns are emerging in relation to the international association conferences hosted in South Africa and Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, chief convention bureau officer at the SANCB said the study contained insights which would prove to be “invaluable to planners looking at South Africa as a potential destination for their business events. It will enable them to organise quality events armed with a closer, more intimate knowledge of our country”.
Among the insights gleaned so far in the study are:
- In 2014 and 2015, the main source markets for business events closely mirrored South Africa’s core leisure tourism markets. Delegates chiefly hailed from the United States, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Turkey, India, Australia, Germany, China, France and Kenya. This is a significant, bearing in mind South African Tourism’s strategy to convert more international business travellers into leisure tourists.
- Accommodation market ‘disruptors’ such as peer-to-peer homestay websites have not yet had a significant effect on the South African business events industry, with traditional accommodation options still dominating. Between 69% and 85% of international delegates are still booking into hotels and a growing number are opting for guesthouses, game lodges and bed-and-breakfast establishments while attending business events.
- The places that were visited most during the period under review were the urban centres of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, but Sandton, Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and Pietermaritzburg were also in the mix. Tourist destinations such as Pilanesberg, Soweto, Sun City, the Kruger Park and Stellenbosch also featured in delegates’ itineraries, suggesting an overlap of business and leisure tourism.
- Approximately half of the delegates interviewed spent between six and 10 days in South Africa on their business trip during the two years under review. During the same period, a significant proportion stayed for between three and five days, but only about 10% visited for 11 to 15 days.
- About half of business delegates are accompanied by one other person on their trips to South Africa, and a significant number are joined by three or more fellow travellers.
The full report, containing three years of research data and insights, will be made available at Meetings Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 27 February to 1 March 2017.
“This research, together with our performance numbers, is proof that South Africa has a capable business events industry. The insights from this research allow us to further cater to conference delegates,” Kotze-Nhlapo added.
South Africa hosted 90 international and regional association conferences between January and October this year. The estimated economic impact of these conferences is over a billion rand (about US$70m), with the total number of delegates estimated at 60,911.
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