Partnerships and collaborations are key to growing South Africa’s business events sector.

This was highlighted by Acting Chief Convention Bureau Officer at the South African National Convention Bureau (SANCB), Zinhle Zama, as a delegation heads to showcase South Africa’s business events capabilities at IBTM World in Barcelona, Spain, this week.

The South African delegation, led by SANCB, comprises 18 exhibitors, including three SMMEs, and will showcase the country’s diverse business travel services. 

Taking place from November 29 to December 1, IBTM World will bring together over 3 000 destinations and 15 000 industry professionals from over 100 countries with the sole purpose of meeting and creating better business results for the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry.

Ahead of IBTM World, SANCB will partner with IBTM World’s Association Leadership Forum (ALF) to host global associations for an engagement that aims to bring the association community together to partner and share knowledge for the advancement of the business events sector.

“The SANCB is committed to business events and capacity building, particularly post the pandemic, ensuring that we are rebuilding and strengthening together as the globe. Through our partnership and collaboration with the ALF, we are demonstrating the strength that comes with working as a collective in achieving a common goal, in this case the goal is to emerge stronger, whilst showcasing our resilience as a business events sector to continue thriving, for the advancement of business events globally and in Africa,” said Zama.

She said the SANCB had participated in a number of global events, including key trade shows, to showcase South Africa’s business events offerings, and it would use the IBTM World platform to further showcase to the global community the strides it continued to make in the business events sector.

“Throughout this year, we’ve made headway on the various platforms we have participated in. The key insight we have found is that the business events community already knows about South Africa, which goes to show that we have done the job of creating awareness. Our job is now to bring people to South Africa to host their business events,” she said.  

Zama said that on Wednesday (November 30), the South African National Convention Bureau would host a media briefing to provide key and exciting updates to South Africa’s business events sector.

“We want to use this platform to not only reassure the global business events industry that South Africa is open for business, but also to showcase the improvements we have made to our offerings,” she said.

During IBTM, SANCB will also take the opportunity to invite the sector to Meetings Africa, which takes place from February 27 to March 1.